|# LI BRARY OF C0?(G1!E SS. 



O"/., 



'/.(j^^J 



Cfijti/ctfi 



^ 



// ^^S' 



WW 



MTED STATES OF AMKRICA.! 



TESTIMONIALS. 



The late Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, President of the American 
Bihle Society, and Chancellor of the University of New York, in a 
letter to the author of " The Inner Life, or the Joys of my Father's 
House," says : — 

" I duly received the manuscript of your work on the Inner 
Life, and have given it as much attention as other pressing 
duties allowed me. And having found it pure and Scriptural 
in its moral and religious contents, I cheerfully recommend it 
as a work calculated, through the blessing of God, to do much 
good. The selections of Scripture, in my judgment, are judi- 
ciously made-, and the appropriate application of them in 
your work, with its excellent spirit, cannot be otherwise than 
useful. Your volume will be a valuable help to all who seek 
the wisdom of which the Bible is the sure revelation. 

*'THEO. FEELINGHUYSEN. 

" New Brunswick, Dec. 6, 1860." 

Mr. Frelinghuysen was one of the most deeply pious members of the 
Presbyterian Church in America. No man was more highly esteemed 
by the religious world in general. His memory will ever be cherished 
by all evangelical Christians. 

The Rev. Bishop M. Simpson, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, says : — 

" I have perused with some care the proof sheets of ' The 
Inner Life ; or, the Joys of my Father's House,' and cordially 



^ TESTIMONIALS. 

commend it to the religious public. I am much pleased with 
its pure, evangelical sentiment, its copious illustrations, and 
its easy style. It is calculated to aid the thoughtful reader in 
his efforts to attain a higher life; and I have no doubt its gene- 
ral circulation will do much good. 

**M. SIMPSON." 

"Philadelphia, July 25, 1864." 

The Rev. P. S. Henson, Pastor of the Broad Street Baptist Church, 
says : — 

" I have read with no little interest and profit the proof- 
sheets of ' The Inner Life, or the Joys of my Father's 
House.' It is eminently evangelical in its tone, and catholic 
in its spirit. Its materials seem to be drawn from the trea- 
sury of a ripe and varied Christian experience. Believing as 
I do that a perusal of the book will be calculated to quicken 
the pulses of that Inner life of which it treats, I sincerely 
hope it may find its way to many homes and hearts. 

"P. S. HENSON. 

''Philadelphia, Oct. 1, 1864." 

The E,ev. Charles P. Krauth, D.D., Professor of Systematic The- 
ology in the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, at Philadelphia, and Editor of " The Lutheran and Mis- 
sionary," says : — 

" The ' Inner Life' strikes us as the work of a thoughtful 
Christian, thoroughly read in the Bible and largely familiar 
with the best practical and devotional literature. It is evan- 
gelical to the core, earnest in its spirit, and well adapted to 
promote the growth of the Christian life. It presents the heart 
of religion as distinct from the technicalities of abstract theo- 
logy, and will profit and interest every reader. It is specially 
rich in the treasures of Christian experience and of sacred 

song. 

''CHARLES P. KRAUTH. 

" Philadelphia, May 11, 1865." 



TESTIMONIALS 3 

The Rev. Kingston Goddard, D. D.. Pastor of St Paurs Protest- 
ant Episcopal Church, speaking of " The Inner Life, or the Joys 
of my Father's House," says: — 

"The value of such works of j^ractical experience as 
the ' Inner Life' is that thej present to the Christian the in- 
ward influences of 'the Truth' in the heart. Mere acquaint- 
ance with Bible truth may be acquired and yet none of its 
power felt. To possess it is only like standin<^ in the broad 
and bright sunshine of mid-day. But when that Truth is 
presented as it is in this earnest and loving work, it is as 
if we walked amidst all the rich scenery of earth beside its 
streams and rivers, that the sun had warmed into existence 
and decked with brilliancy and beauty. Most earnestly do 
we recommend this book to the perusal of the devout 
Christian ; and heartily we hail it as a valuable addition to 

our sacred literature. 

"KINGSTON GODDARD, 

"St. Paul's Ch. (P. E. C.) 

" Philadelphia " 

Another eminent minister of Christ, the Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger 
D.D., Pastor of First German Reformed Church, Race Street, says: — 

"No better testimony can be borne to the real worth of a 

book, than that its perusal has been found truly instructive 

and edifying, and that the reading of several chapters of it 

causes regret that there is neither time nor opportunity, at 

present, for going through the whole of it. This testimony 

I can sincerely offer in favor of the ' Inner Life/ It is a good 

book in the highest sense of the term, and cannot fail to prove 

welcome and profitable to all who read it with sober and 

devout minds. 

" J. II. A. BOMBERGER. 

" Philadelphia, May 12, 1865," 



THE INNER LIFE; 



OR, 



THE JOYS OF MY FATHER'S HOUSE. 



DESIGNED TO 



ASSIST THE SEEKER, STRENGTHEN THE WAVERING, 

AND COMFORT THE AFFLICTED AND 

THE BEREAVED. 



I* 

i 

A WAYFARING MAN. - ; 



" After a short pause, he began with a voice that Avouhl have allayed the anprnish 
of death, and charmed the wildest discord into calm attention : every accent breathed 
celestial love and harmony, while he describe<l the joys of his ' Father's house.' Every 
word was ijcnetrating. In his descriptions, I saw the glories, I felt the joys, of heaven." 



PHTLABELPHIA : 
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR 

BY SHERMAN & CO. 
ISOj. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
W3I. H. STARR, 

the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of 
Connecticut. 



INTRODUCTION. 



There is not enongli of an3^thiDg good in the 
world, which depends on man, not enough even 
of those good things of which it is asserted most 
frequently, that there is too much. Books are 
plenty, good books are few, and among the classes 
of the few good books none are more rare than 
those which are thoroughly adapted to the experi- 
mental life of the Christian. Eeligious books, 
written in the course of professional life, and 
printed simply because they have been written, — 
books prepared for the benefit of the author, or 
of the publisher, not for the benefit of the reader, 
— are common enough. Smooth and graceful in 
style and rich in thought such works may be, but 
as they do not come from the heart they do not 
go to the heart, they simply swell the number of 
books already too large, books wrought out in no 
genuine experience, and addressed to no specific 
want, and incapable of moving the afifections of 
men, a result without which their judgments are 
enlightened in vain. 



o i>:troduction. 

The volume which now lies before the reader 
claims a. moment from him, on the ground that it 
is no bookseller's nor book-writer's manufacture, 
but a true growth, an humble but genuine growth 
out of a life kindled by the Saviour and hidden 
with him in God. It is offered to God and to His 
Children, as the witness of a heart which was led 
through sore conflicts to precious experiences, out 
of the darkness not alone of nature, but of a se- 
ductive and delusive system of theology, to a 
knowledge of the truth of God in his Word, and 
of the God of truth in his only-begotten Son, 
through the Holy Ghost, the illuminer and Com- 
forter. Its author asks a hearing, not because of 
the earthly wisdom or human eloquence for which 
the natural heart seeks, but because he speaks 
what it is his joy, in common with all that are in 
Christ Jesus, to know, and testifies, in the fellow- 
ship of all who are led by the Spirit of God, what 
he has seen. 

This volume may be made a hand-book for the 
Pilgrim who turns his face Zionward, not indeed 
as a substitute for God's own Guide-book, but as 
a simple Manual, in which is arranged what that 
great and exhaustless Book furnishes for the way. 
With this testimony of God's inspired servants is 
connected, in these pages, the record in which the 



INTRODUCTION. 



Biiliits of many lands, and the "wayfaring man" 
himself, set their seal to God's ever-abiding truth. 
The Bible, the life and testimony of Bible Chris- 
tians, the sweet and heavenly strains of holy men 
and women who drew their inspiration from the 
Bible, these will be fouiid grouped together here 
in all the artless fervor of a soul which desires to 
know nothing among men, but "Jesus Christ and 
him crucified." It is a book in which the yearn- 
ing heart of seeker and saint will find a voice for 
its longings, in which the mourning and the re- 
joicing will find words of comfort and of exulta- 
tion. It has an extraordinary air of reality, as if 
the invisible were visible, as if the glory to be re- 
vealed were a present thing grasjDed in living faith. 
The man who has no religion, or who imagines 
that religion is all summed up in frigid speculation, 
may not comprehend the fire of devotion which 
glows in these pages, and yet he must be cold in- 
deed, if he can peruse them without feeling some- 
thing of their own ardent life and aspiration. 

But this little volume is not merely devotional; 
it is eminently practical. It unfolds duty as well 
as privilege, duty in the closet, and duty in the 
family circle. It is especially a book for the 
family. The Chapters on " Obedience to Parents" 
are peculiarly comprehensive and forcible. The 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

family which is so happy as to take its shape 
under the influence of those Chapters will never 
cease, no, not to eternity, to thank God that this 
book was brought within it. 

This book is also rich in consolation. The 
ever-touching theme of *' Family Bereavements" 
is handled with a tenderness which would have 
been impossible on the part of one who had not 
tasted very deeply of the bitter cup, and very 
deeply of the consolations which a Saviour's love 
mingles with it. As the author approaches the 
termination of his work, the heavenly home as- 
sumes to him an increasing vividness ; he rises and 
carries the reader with him, within the veil. He 
gathers a cloud of witnesses around the saint's 
dying hour, and central among them all stands 
the faithful and true Witness, "The Author and 
finisher of our faith," the adorable and loving 
Saviour. To that Saviour this book is an oiFering 
of love and gratitude ; and all who love him, and 
all who wish to love him, will find pure delight 
and an abiding blessing in an earnest, repeated, 
and prayerful perusal of it. 



CO^^TENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

ADVENT OF THE ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 

His amazing love — No room in the Inn for "poor" people — 
Born in a Stable — What the Angels did — His temptations and suf- 
ferings — His transfiguration — He weeps over a rebellious people — 
His groans and tears at the grave of Lazarus — What all the riches 
of the world could not purchase — He is forsaken by all his friends 
— His sorrows — The powers of darkness assail him — He prays the 
more earnestly — Sweats great drops of blood — What his tor- 
mentors and murderers said and did — The amazing riches and 
glory of the Christian — Eternal misery of all who refuse or neglect 
to come to Christ — The battle for souls betwixt the Armies of the 
Cross and Satan and his hosts — Earth a near door-neighbor to 
Heaven — Time has no duration in the reckoning of God — The 
speed of Angels — Christ ever present with the Christian in his 
public and private devotions — Infinite wisdom, power, and conde- 
scension of God Page 17 

CHAPTER II. 

THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

The love unspeakable and full of glory — What the sweet singer 
of Israel said of it — What St. John heard — Effect of a mother's 
prayers, and of preaching Christ and him crucified — Amazing 

(xi) 



xn CONTENTS. 

effects of pardon — Why these raptures are allowed new converts — 
The proofs of true conversion — Who are true Christians, and who 
mere professors or "reprobates" — The conversion of William 
Cowper, and others — Heart-cheering experiences — The beacon- 
light of their Father's house in full view — Sounds like "foolish- 
ness" to men of the world — "Divers operations, but the same 
God" — No two leaves upon a tree alike — The cases of Lazarus, 
Zaccheus. and Mary Magdalene — What Mary's tears and love had 
won — Love and sorrow — Earth's night of weeping will soon sparkle 
in eternal sunbeams — Christ always uppermost in the thoughts of 
his people — They cling to the Cross like the ivy to the tree 35 



CHAPTER III. 

THE WARFARE. 

What God does to the true members of his Church — The true 
nature of the Christian warfare — The devices of Satan — His onsets 
constant — Leave no unguarded place — What the Christian must 
expect and do — No cross no crown — The hidden designs of God — 
The rod — Words of cheer for sinking hearts — The morning with- 
out clouds — The everlasting hills of glory appear — The spirit of 
God sounds a string here and there — Conflicts and trials — The 
wa,j God teaches and trains his children — Fearful consequences 
of counteracting His afflictive dispensations — Frightful suff"erings 
and deaths of the most precious and lovely of God's children — 
Dreadful end of the wicked — Steadfastness of the saints of old — 
Why the Christian's course is not strewed with flowers and sun- 
beams 55 



CHAPTER lY. 

BATTLES FOUGHT AND VICTORIES WON. 

The aged Soldier of the Cross — The smile upon his wasted 
cheek — His prospects of eternal happiness clenr and glorious — 
The wilderness passed — His Father's house in full view — Happy 
deaths — The glories of Immanuel's land — The unspeakable hap- 



CONTEXTS. Xlll 

piness of the childi^en of God — What the martyrs did in their last 
moments — Transporting views of the heavenly world — The minis- 
try of Angels— Delightful death-bed scenes — Fearful condition of 
wicked men in a dying hour — Happy death of a Sunday-school 
scholar — His last words to his parents and sister — His " farewell" 
to each — Sees his Saviour — Angels around his bed — Hears de- 
lightful music — Longs to die — The smile of Heaven overspreads 
his countenance — His Ig^t Avord to his mother — Looks up to 
Heaven, smiles, and expires in his father's arms 81 



CHAPTER Y. 

PRAYER. 

Prayer the life-breath of true religion — What God says of 
prayer — Dreadful condition of the prayerless man — What the 
saints of old did — No excuse will be taken — The prayers of David 
and Daniel — Places of prayer — What prayer did for Joshua, 
Elijah, Hezekiah, and other men of God — Amazing power of 
faithful prayer — Faith : definitions of it — Wrestling with God in 
prayer — Jacob's prayer — Praying " with strong crying and tears" 
— A dying father's last prayer for his daughter — Tears — The Lord 
despises all human strength in prayer — The proud praying lions 
flung aside to rot — "When I am weak, then am I strong" — Family 
worship — Dutiful children blessed — A dying father's last gift to 
his daughter — Its immense value — What God has promised to do 
for all who truly love him 103 



CHAPTER YI. 

PRAYER, CONTINUED. 

The Bible — Its amazing value — What David and Daniel thought 
of it — W'hat the veterans of the Cross say — Dr. Arnold's remarks 
— " Praying with all prayer" hateful to the Devil — His devices — 
The weapons he uses — What the Christian must do — How to dis- 
tinguish the true disciples of Christ from mere professors or 
"reprobates" — Sweet hour of prayei' — Prayer within the reach of 
2 



XIV CONTENTS. 

all — Ignorance or want of education no excuse — What every ti-ue 
soldier of Christ does — What David said of "filthy rags" or self- 
righteousness — The power of Satan — His depths— His perfidious 
cruelty — Tries to delude, degrade, and ruin the Christian— His 
lying and detestable character — His last resource to destroy the 
Christian — The warnings of the fathers against his deceptions — 
What provokes Christ most — The recording Angel ever present — 
Unguarded moments — What the erring. Christian must do — What 
broke Peter's heart — The Lord's last prayer for his disciples, and 
for all who come to him , 125 



CHAPTER YII. 

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

What God said in Abraham's praise — The example of Christ — 
Warnings to parents — " I won't" — Job and Solomon on Wisdom — 
The happy child — A man shall be known in his children — The life 
speaks — Every action has a tongue — Ahaziah and his wicked 
mother — Their fearful end — What a properly brought up child 
hates — What wicked children do — What the Scriptures say of 
them and their wicked parents — Indications by which their true 
states of mind may be known — What a parent has no right to ask 
his child to do — The drunkard and profane swearer — Frightful 
effects of ardent spirits on the human body and mind — The ruin 
wide-spread — Who is responsible — "Am I my brother's keeper?" 
— God commands a disobedient drunken son to be stoned to death 
by his parents — Spontaneous combustion of drunkards — The 
fearful doom that awaits them beyond the gi^ave — The profane 
swearer 141 

CHAPTER VIII. 

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS, CONTINUED. 

Susceptibility of the young mind to evil impressions — The 
Christian family — A dying mother's last words to her son — The 
" far-off misty days" — The remembrance of her great love for him 
brings tears in his eyes — The boy who is "too big" to obey his 



CONTENTS. XV 

mother — What Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords did — 
The dreadful end of the wicked — The Bible knows no to-morrow 
— "Thinking about it" — A limit to provocation — The devices of 
Satan — His helpers and agents — AVhat the Scriptures say of the 
eternal home of the wicked — What Avicked children will say to 
their parents in the Day of Judgment 165 



CHAPTER IX. 

FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

The grave — The Christian family never grows less — Anxiety of 
the blest for the safety of their relations and friends — The Indian 
mother — The withered blossoms will bloom again — The cloud of 
witnesses — The loved ones of my childhood's days — The true 
Soldier of the Cross no believer in second causes — Extravagant 
desires — Conflicts and trials — Impatience and murmuring — The 
changed Cross — The bodies of the saints — Abel and hJiS harp — 
Sings the song of redeeming love — The faith of the saints of old 
— The music of Heaven — Unspeakable happiness of the redeemed 
— " I long to be there" — The Angels: their power and glory — 
The "house" of "many mansions" in full view — The ship enters 
the harbor — Home at last — The meeting of death-divided friends 
— The Saviour's amazing love 177 



THE 



INNER LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 

ADVENT OF THE ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 

His amazing love — No room in the Inn for ''poor" people — Born in 
a Stable — What the Angels did — His temptations and sufferings — His 
transfiguration — He weeps over a rebellious people — His groans and 
tears at the grave of Lazarus — What all the riches of the world could 
not purchase — He is forsaken by all his friends — His sorrows — The 
powers of darkness assail him — He prays the more earnestly — Sweats 
great drops of blood — What his tormentors and murderers said and did 
— The amazing riches and glory of the Christian — Eternal misery of all 
who refuse or neglect to come to Christ — The battle for souls betwixt the 
Armies of the Cross and Satan and his hosts — Earth a near door-neigh- 
bor to Heaven — Time has no duration in the reckoning of God — The 
speed of Angels — Christ ever present with the Christian in his public and 
private devotions — Infinite wisdom, power, and condescension of God. 

O THE depth of the love which brought the Lord 
Jesus from the bosom of his Father, in the " heaven of 
heavens," to the manger in Bethlehem, to the cross 
on Calvary, to the depths of the grave in Joseph's 
sepulchre, which induced him to wash men from their 
sins in his own blood. Isaiah liii. 3-12; Matt. xxvi. 
26-28 ; 1 John iii. 16 ; Rev. i. 5, 6 ; vii. 13, 14. We 
2* (17) 



18 ADVEXT OF THE 

were prisoners at the bar, condemned to die; but he 
left his " Father's house," and came down to earth, and 
stood at our side, saying, I will die for them, that 
they may live forever ! He took our nature upon him, 
and was born as a man ! He entered the world with 
all the circumstances of poverty ! He had a star to 
illustrate his birth ; but a stable for his bed-chamber, 
and a manger for his cradle ! The angels sang hymns 
when he was born ; but he was poor, despised, and 
afflicted : God being more careful to establish in him 
the covenant of sufferings, than^ to refresh his sorrows. 
Isaiah liii, 3-12 ; Heb. v. 8, 9. Presently, after the angels 
had finished their hallelujahs, he was forced to fly to 
save his life, and the air became full of the shrieks of 
the desolate mothers of Bethlehem for their dying babes. 
Matt. ii. 18; Jer. xxxi. 15. The Father had no sooner 
made him illustrious with a voice from heaven, and the 
descent of the Holy Ghost upon him in the waters of 
baptism, than he was delivered over to be tempted and 
assaulted of the devil in the wilderness ! 

His transfiguration was a bright ray of glory ; but he 
also entered a cloud, and was told a sad story of what 
he was to suffer in Jerusalem. So that upon Palm 
Sunday, when he rode triumphantly into that rebellious 
city, although hailed with the acclamations of a king, 
he wet the palms with his tears, sweeter than the drops 
of manna, or the little pearls of heaven that descended 
upon Mount Hermon, weeping in the midst of this 
triumph over an obstinate, perishing, and malicious 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 19 

people ! "And when he was come nigh, even at the des- 
cent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the 
disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud 
voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, 
Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord : 
peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And the 
Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Mas- 
ter, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said 
unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, 
the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was 
come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If 
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, 
the things which belong unto thy peace ! but now they 
are hid from thine eyes." Luke xix. 3*7-4^ ; Prov. i. 24- 
28 ; Jer. viii. 20. " Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that 
killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent 
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children 
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wings, and ye would not ! Behold your house is left 
unto you desolate." Matt, xxiii. Si, 38 ; John vii. 34, 35; 
Acts xiii. 45, 46. " If I had not done among them the 
works which none other man did, they had not had sin ; 
but now have they both seen and hated both me and my 
Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might 
be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me 
without a cause." 

Look at him at the grave of Lazarus I The sufferings 
of the two sisters touch his loving heart ; and there he — 
"the Lord of glory," and "the Creator of all things," 



20 ADVENT OF THE 

stands forever sanctioning sorrow, and even exalting it 
into a manly, most noble thing. His eyes swim in tears, 
groans rend his bosom ; he is deeply, so uncontrollably, 
so visibly affected, that the spectators exclaim, " Behold, 
how he loved him ! " These were precious tears. The 
passing air kissed them from his cheek, or they were 
drunk up of the earth, or they glistened but for a little, 
like dew-drops on some lonely flower ; yet assuring us 
of his sympathy in our hours of sorrow, their memory 
has been healing balm to many a bleeding heart. This 
"man of sorrows," so gentle, so tender, so easily moved 
that he often wept, endued with a sensibility so deli- 
cate, that the strings of his heart vibrated to the slight- 
est touch, has, by a word, rent the tomb. 

Why flow the blessed Saviour's tears ? 
Is it because the cross he fears — 
Because he knows he soon shall die, 
And shall within the cold grave lie. 

He weeps to see the sister weep 
Of Lazarus, who lies asleep ; 
So tender is his heart, so kind, 
That all from him may pity find. 

Mary called her babe her Saviour. Luke i. 46, 41 ; 
Isaiah ix. 6 ; Micah v. 2, 3. Mary was once poor, but 
now she had what all the riches in the world could not 
purchase. Jer. ix. 23, 24 ; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. vi. 10; 
Colos. ii. 3. Ah, happy Mary ! happy Mary ! And yet — 
wonderful to relate, this amazing treasure of the now 
happy Mary, was once sold for thirty pieces of silver! 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 21 

Zech. xi. 12, 18; Matt, xxvii. 3, 4. The first star that 
ever shone, nay, the first angel that ever sang, are but 
things of 3^esterday beside this manger, where couched 
in straw and wrapped in swaddling clothes, a new-born 
babe is sleeping. "Before Abraham was," or these 
were, " I am," says Jesus. His mother's maker, and 
his mother's child, he formed the living womb that gave 
him birth, and ages before that, the rock that gave him 
burial. A child, yet Almighty God ; a Son, yet The 
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace! Isaiah ix. 6; 
John xiv. 8, 9. See him in that hall — a spectacle of woe ; 
an old purple robe on his bleeding back ; in his hand a 
reed; and on his head a wreath — not of laurel, but of 
thorns, while the blood, trickling down from many 
wounds over his lovely face, falls on a breast heaving 
with a sea of sorrows ! 

Oh, my Saviour ! what a theme for mortal tongue ! 

For never yet hath burning spirit flung 

O'er thrilling chord his rapture-making hands, 

To theme so great, 'mid heaven's seraphic bands. 

Through the long silence of eternal night, 

Thou Avast, enthroned in uncreated light ; 

Thyself a universe — thyself thine all ! 

And when, of thy mere goodness, thou didst call 

Angelic worlds around thee, sweetly rolled 

Their strains o'er harps of pure, ethereal gold. 

They sung thee God — creation's fount and end, 

Their Sovereign Benefactor, Lord and Friend. 

Their " Holy, Holy, Holy," pealed around, 

Deep echoing through immensities profound; 

Yet none, amidst their shining hosts of light, 

E'er hailed thee, "Saviour!" that supreme delight 

Reserved for guilty man — for guilty me ! — 

To sing through time, and through eternity. 



22 ADVENT OF THE 

Yes, He who had been waited on by angels, becomes 
the servant of servants, takes a towel, and girds himself, 
and washes his disciples' feet ! John xiii. 4, 5 ; Matt. xxvi. 
21, 28. lie who was honored with the hallelujahs of ages 
is now mocked, spit upon, and scourged ! Oh, for words 
to picture his humiliation! Dan. vii. 13, 14; Psalm xxii. 
16, 18 ; Ixix. 20, 21 ; Matt, xxvii. 29-35. The stupendous 
fabric of creation, yonder starry vault, this magnificent 
world, were the work of the hands by which, in love to 
poor sinful man, he " the Lord of glory," hung a mangled 
form, on the Cross of Calvary ! Deserted by the world, 
"a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief," depend- 
ent on a few humble followers for the most common 
necessaries of life, within a few hours of an ignominious 
death, his foot already on the verge of the grave, he rises 
to the loftiness of Godhead ; and turning an eye that 
was to be soon darkened on earth, he claims a com- 
munity of property with God. "All things," he says, 
"that the Father hath are mine." 

Though He was rich, yet for our sakes he became 
poor, that we through his poverty might become rich ! 
2 Cor. viii. 9 ; Matt. viii. 20 ; Luke ix. 58. He took upon 
him the form of a man, and ended a life of sorrow by a 
death of pain, that he might reconcile a fallen world to 
an offended God! Eph. ii. 15, 16 ; Rom. iii. 24, 25. His 
mental suffering was ineffable, inconceivable ; the tempta- 
tions to which he was exposed were all that Satanic 
ingenuity could devise, to harass and shock his holy 
mind. Never was sorrow like his sorrow. All human 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 23 

suffering compared with his, scarcely deserves the name. 
The deeps environed him ; the waters came into his 
soul : all God's waves and billows passed over him. He 
was given up to the assaults of the infernal hosts. Oh, 
how they tormented his holy soul ! Oh, what nameless 
terrors ! He was indeed the man who saw affliction by 
the rod of God's wrath. What an idea do these words 
give of the intensity of his agony, " Now is my soul 
troubled; and what shall I say? — my soul is exceeding 
sorrowful, even unto death. This cup which Thou 
givest me to drink, shall I not drink it?" "And there 
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening 
him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: 
and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling 
down to the ground." 

So deep were his soirows, so fervent his prayers, 
That down o'er his bosom roU'd great bloody tears; 
I wept to behold him; I asked him his name — 
He answer'd, 'Tis Jesus! from heaven I came. 

I am thy Redeemer! for thee I must die; 
The cup is most bitter, but cannot pass by. 
Thy sins, like a mountain, are laid upon me ; 
And all this deep anguish I suffer for thee. 

I heard with deep sorrow the tale of his woe, 
While tears like a fountain of waters did flow ; 
The cause of his sorrows to hear him repeat, 
Affected my heart, and I fell at his feet, 

I trembled with sorrow, and loudly did cry, 

Lord ! save a poor sinner, save, or I die ! 

He smiled when he saw me, and said to me, "Live; 

Thy sins, whicli are many, I freely forgive!" 



24 ADVENT OF THE 

How sweet was that moment he bade me rej(jice ! 
His smile, how pleasant! how cheering his voice! 
I flew from the garden to spread it abroad — 
I shouted, Salvation I and Glory to God I 

View that crucifixion ! Look at that thornv crown on 
his ensanguined temples ! See that ragged piirple robe, 
but ill concealing his lacerated and bleeding form ! Look 
at that mocking sceptre of a reed ; but the same meek, 
heavenly, and uncomplaining tenderness ! Oh, how 
mournful the expression of his lovely features ! His 
parted lips, already livid with approaching death, are 
uttering his dying prayer for his murderers, " Father, 
forgive them, for they know not what they do." But — 
wonderful to relate, "they laughed him to scorn: they 
shot out the lip, they shook the head," saying, "He 
trusted in God : let him deliver him now, for he said, I 
am the Son of God." " They gave him gall for his meat, 
and in his thirst they gave him vinegar to drink." Ah, 
flow, ye tears, flow down these cheeks of mine. 

Yes, he is surely dead, 

The cruel soldier said ; 

Then pierced the Saviour's side. 

Behold, a mingled tide 
Of blood and water flowing from the wound, 
Covered with crimson stains Golgotha's ground. 

The loving John was near ; 

He saw the soldier's spear 

Bring forth that wondrous flood 

Of water and of blood ; 
And well remembered how his Master said, 
He came for sinful man his blood to shed. 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 25 

The blood that flowed that day 

Long since has passed away ; 

But still there flows a stream — 

Though by all unseen — 
For those that trust the blood on Calvary spilt ; 
And in that stream their souls are washed from guilt. 

Oh, what a death for the Father's ''well-beloved 
Son ! " Xo one wiped the perspiration from his brow. 
No one cheered him with words of comfort. Whoever 
left the world more forsaken and involved in deeper 
shades than he ? Yet do not mistake him. It was not 
a conflict in which we see him engaged, but a sacrificial 
act. He did not yield to death like us, but devoted him- 
self to it. The payment of the wages of sin is due only 
from sinners. The Holy One of Israel had nothing in 
common with death. What was it then we witness on 
Calvary ? Look up ! After having uttered the great 
and triumphant shout, " It is finished ! " he again moves 
his lips to speak. What will follow, signs of weakness 
and a mournful farewell? not so! Listen! With a 
loud voice, and the strength and emphasis of one who 
does not die from weakness, nor dying pays a forced 
tribute to a mournful necessity ; but as one who is Lord 
over death, and voluntarily yields himself up to it, he 
exclaims — and noise of rending rocks, falling mountains, 
and bursting sepulchres accompany his cry, " Father, 
into thy bands I commend my spirit!" and after these 
words, like one whose labor is finished, he bows, self- 
acting, his bleeding head upon his breast, and resigns 
his Spirit, or, as John expresses it, "gives up the ghost." 
3 



26 ADVENT OF THE 

Yes, glory be to God, the Holy and Just submits him- 
self, representatively, to the fate of the guilty, while the 
latter are forever liberated, and inherit the indescribably 
happy lot of the Son of God. Rev. xxi. Y ; 1 Cor. iii. 21- 
23. O wonderful and incomparably blessed truth ! 
" God made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that 
we might be made the righteousness of God in him ! " 
2 Cor. V. 21 ; Jer. xxiii. 6 ; Rom. x. 4. " Therefore, being 
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 

Hark ! the voice of love and mercy- 
Sounds aloud from Calvary ; 
See ! it rends the rocks asunder, 

Shakes the earth and veils the sky; 
"It is finished!" — 

Hear the dying Saviour cry. 
It is finished! what pleasure 

Do these precious words aflFord ! 
Heavenly blessings without measure, 

Flow to us from Christ the Lord, 
" It is finished ! " — 

Saints, the dying Avords record. 
Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs ; 

Join to sing the pleasing theme ; 
All on earth, and all in heaven, 

Join to praise Immanuel's name; 
" It is finished! " — 

Glory to the bleeding Lamb. 

ye blessed, who belong to Christ, who can describe 
the glory of your state ! 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10 ; iii. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. 
vi. 9, 10 ; Rev. xxi. 1. No longer dream of imaginary 
burdens, but know and never forget that your suit is 
gained to all eternity. Behold the Son of God yonder 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 



27 



^ears your fetters ; and nothing more is required of you 
than to love him with all your heart, and embrace him 
more and more closely who took your anathema upon 
himself, that you might exclaim, ''The Lord our Right- 
eousness." 

Love divine, how sweet thou art ! 
AA'hen shall I find my willing heart 

All taken up by thee? 

1 thirst, I faint, I die to prove 
The greatness of redeeming love, — 

The love of Christ to me. 

Stronger his love than death or hell ; 
Its riches are unsearchable ; 

The first-born sons of light 
Desire in vain its depths to see ; 
They cannot reach the mystery. 

The length, the breadth, the height. 



Dear reader, do you feel His love in your heart? Are 
you in the path that leads to Heaven ? If not, do you 
ask, " What must I do to be saved ? " The answer is, 
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved." But it is requisite to feel your need of him, and 
to believe that he is able and willing to save you, and to 
save you now. Satan may have been trying to persuade 
you that Christ is not able to save so great a sinner as 
you are. It is false, for All power is given unto Christ 
in heaven and in earth. Matt, xxviii. 18. "Wherefore 
he is able to save tliem to the uttermost that come unto 
God by him." Heb. vii. 25. Say not, then, "Alas ! alas! 
it is too late ! " or, " I have warred too long against the 



28 ADVENT OF THE 

Holy Spirit to hope for mercy; I feel that my sins are 
too great to be forgiven; I am a lost man!" Not so, 
not so; for if you truly feel in your heart that you are "a 
lost man," and feel deeply penitent — " broken in heart," 
on account of your sins, you are a saved man ; for Jesus 
came to save " lost" men. Luke xix. 10 ; Matt. ix. 12, 13; 
John vi. 3t. His word is, " Thou hast destroyed thy- 
self, but in Me is thine help." Hosea xiii. 9 ; Rom. x. 4- 
12 ; Colos. ii. 14. He desires to exhibit you in the sight 
of heaven, earth, and hell, as proof of what the blood of 
the Cross is able to accomplish. When he was upon 
earth, he never spurned the guiltiest away. He pitied 
whom others loathed, and interceded for them " with 
strong crying and tears."" 

St. Paul, speaking of the Corinthians, says they were 
" fornicators, effeminate, thieves, covetous, drunkards, 
revilers, extortioners." "Such," he says, "were some 
of you." Yet even them the Spirit of God made alive. 
"Ye are washed," he writes, "ye are sanctified, ye are 
justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the 
Spirit of our God." 1 Cor. vi. 9-11. There was nothing 
in the Colossians that the Spirit of God should visit 
their hearts. St. Paul tells us that "they walked in 
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, evil concu-. 
piscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Yet 
them also the Spirit of God quickened. He made them 
"put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new 
man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of 
Him that created him." Col. iii. 5-10. There was 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 29 

nothing in Mary Magdalene that the Spirit of God 
should make her soul alive. (See Mark xvi. 9 ; Luke xi. 
21, 22; and Psalm Ixviii. 18.) Yet even her, the Spirit 
of God made a new creature, separated her from her sins, 
brought her to Christ, made her last at the cross, and 
first at the tomb. 

Tell me who is standing there 

"With weeping eyes and flowing hair, 

And box of ointment sweet. 
Now on the ground she's bending low ; 
Her tears yet fast and faster flow ; 

They fall on Jesus' feet. 

To her dear Lord much love she bears, 
His feet she washes with her tears, 

And wipes them with her hair ; 
And then with pious tenderness, 
Fond kisses ceases not to press, 

And pours the ointment rare. 

Ah, she whose love is now so strong. 
Has wandered far, has wandered long. 

And from her God has gone ; 
But now with willing feet returns. 
And now with deepest sorrow mourns 

The deeds that she has done. 

And will the Lord in pity look, 

And blot her crimes from out his book, 

And words of comfort say ? 
Ah, yes ; e'en now he pardon gives, 
E'en now the weeping sinner lives, 

And wipes her tears away. 

Sinners of every name and nation, — sinners of every 
sort and description, have knocked at the door of the 
fold, and none — who came with " a broken heart and a 
3* 



80 ADVENT OF THE 

contrite spirit" — have ever been refused admission. 
John vi. 37 ; Acts x. 34, 35. It was his glory while on 
earth, and it is his glory still, to be reproached as the 
" friend of sinners ; " a friend continually to teach them 
"the Way" to heaven. His word is, "Be thou faithful 
UDto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Rev. 
ii. 10. . " He that overcometh shall inherit all things, 
and he shall be my son." Rev. xxi. '7. "Therefore let 
no man glory in men : for all things are yours ; whether 
P^ul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or 
death, or things present, or things to come ; all are 
yours; and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." 1 Cor. 
iii. 21-23 ; Jer, ix. 23, 24. Yes, you poor broken-hearted 
ones, whom this world's pettiest monarch would sweep 
from his path, nor deem you worthy the slightest notice, 
Jesus, "the Prince of Light," bending from his throne, 
invites to share his glory, and become with him, " Kings 
and priests unto God ! " He does not say, " half my 
kingdom." No; he offers nothing by halves. His pro- 
mise, unlike that of an earthly monarch, is illimitable. 
He says, "all Mine are thine ; " confining his generosity 
neither to kingdoms, nor continents, nor worlds, nor 
heaven itself. He lays the whole universe at the feet 
of " the broken in heart," or truly penitent. 

The poorest man on earth, who feels the love of Christ 
in his heart, is infinitely more important and honorable 
in the sight of God, than an unconverted king. The one 
may glitter like a butterfl}^ in the sun for a little season, 
and be admired by an ignorant world, but his latter end 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 31 

is darkness and misery forever. The other may crawl 
through the world like a crushed worm, and be despised 
by every one who sees him ; but his latter end is a glorious 
resurrection and a blessed eternity. . Of him the Lord 
says, '* I know thy poverty, but thou art rich." Rev. 
ii. 9 ; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23 ; 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10 ; Jer. ix. 23, 24. 

In every case of true repentance, Satan suffers a de- 
feat, and Christ gains a victory. When the tide of battle 
thus runs in favor of the Cross, and when the standard 
of the Gospel is unfurled, and spread over the citadel of 
another conquered heart, Angels rejoice, and watch the 
issue of the conflict that is going on betwixt the follow- 
ers of the Lamb and the slaves of Satan. The language 
which Jesus utters, when he tells us that there is an inte- 
rest felt in heaven over the repentance of every sinner, 
at the very moment it is taking place upon earth, re- 
minds us that there is a communication, such as Chris- 
tians too seldom realize, betwixt the inhabitants of earth 
and those above. Such a declaration proves, that, how- 
ever we may dream about the "far-oflf" kingdom, never- 
theless the earth is such a near door-neighbor to heaven, 
that what is taking place upon its surface is not only 
known, but felt, in the w^orld of peace ; showing that 
the mode of communication is quick and accurate be- 
tween the two worlds. Besides, we must not forget the 
amazing fact, that time has no duration in the reckoning 
of God. " One day is with the Lord as a thousand 
years, and a thousand years as one day." Space, upon 
the same principle, has no extension in the measurement 



32 ADVENT OF THE 

of God. There is no such thing as distance, considered 
in its relations to Him. Quickness of transition, to 
some extent, also annihilates space. The speed of An- 
gels may be so great in their transitions from heaven to 
earth, and from earth back again to heaven, that, far as 
the regions may be asunder, they may make the passage 
quick as a gleam of lightning, or rapid as the twink- 
ling of an eye. Even our thoughts almost annihilate 
space as they roam to and fro through the great creation, 
and up and down through the heavens, and round about 
the throne of God. Angels and glorified spirits may 
move through space much quicker than our thoughts do, 
and therefore quicker than the beams of light move 
away from the sun into the regions around. (See Isaiah 
XXV. 1 ; Dan. ix. 21-23 ; and Luke ii. 13.) 

The great universe is the house of God, — which he 
more than fills ; for he made it, and the Creator must be 
greater than the creature, — in which he walks in his 
majesty to and fro, and in every part of which he mani- 
fests, by the works of his hands and the evolutions of 
his providence, his awful presence. "Am I a God at 
hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off. Can any 
hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? 
saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith 
the Lord." Jer. xxiii. 23, 24 ; 1 Chron. xxviii. 9 ; 2 Chron. 
xvi. 9. " Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, 
and are counted as the small dust of the balance : behold 
He taketh up the isles as a very little thing. All nations 
before Him are as nothing, and vanity. To whom then 



ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. 33 

will ye liken God ? or to what likeness will ye compare 
him? Ha\^e ye not known? have ye not heard? hath 
it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not 
understood from the foundation of the earth ? It is He 
that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabi- 
tants thereof are as grasshoppers ; that stretcheth out 
the heavens as a curtain to dwell in. Who hath mea- 
sured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted 
out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust 
of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains 
in scales, and the hills in a balance ? To whom then will 
3^e liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One, 
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created 
these things, that bringeth out their host by number : He 
calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, 
for that he is strong in power; not one faileth." 

The moral government of God is still more wonderful. 
The Scriptures very plainly teach the special presence 
of God in all places where his people meet to pray and 
praise. The Psalms are full of allusions to it ; and so 
are most of the books of the New Testament. " Where 
two or three are gathered together in my Name, there I 
am in the midst of them." Matt, xviii. 20. ''But thou, 
when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou 
hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in 
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall 
reward thee openly." Matt. vi. 6. " No man hath as- 
cended up to heaven, but he that came down from hea- 
ven, even the son of man which is in heaven." John iii. 



34 ADVENT OF THE 

13; Deut. iv. 15. From these passages of Scripture, we 
learn that Christ is present with every Christian in his 
private devotions, and in every assembly which may be 
convened at the same time throughout the world ; that 
he is at the same time in heaven and upon earth. 

When I survey the wondrous cross 

On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 

And pour contempt on all my pride. 

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, 
Save in the death of Christ, my God : 

All the vain things that charm me most, 
I sacrifice them to his blood. 

See, from his head, his hands, his feet, 
Sorrow and love flow mingled down ; 

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet. 
Or thorns compose so rich a crown ? 

Were the whole realm of nature mine, 

That were a present far too small; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

Yes, the faithful soldier of Christ is ever ready to say, 
with St. Paul, "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but 
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus 
my Lord : for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 
and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and 
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, 
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith 
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God through faith." 
Phil. iii. 8, 9; 1 Cor. ii. 2; Isaiah Ixiv. 6; Jer. xxiii. 
63 Acts iv. 12. 



^ CHAPTER II. 

TTTE LOVE THAT PASSETH K NO WE EDGE. 

The love unspeakable and full of glory — What St. John heard — Effect 
of a mother's praters, and of preaching Christ and him crucified — 
Amazing effects of pardon — Why these raptures are allowed new converts 
— The proofs of true conversion — Who are true Christians, and who 
mere professors or "reprobates" — Heart-cheering experiences — The 
beacon-light of their Father's house in full view — Sounds like " foolish- 
ness" to men of the world — " Divers operations, but the same God" — Love 
and sorrow — Christ always uppermost in the thoughts of his people — 
They cling to the Cross like the ivy to the tree. 

When a man loves God, with all his heart, and his 
neighbor as himself, all nature appears to sympathize 
with him ; he goes forth with joy, and is led forth with 
peace ; " the mountains and the hills break forth before 
him into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their 
hands." The fields, the rivers, the sky, the air, the 
sun, the stars, the cattle, the birds, the fish — yea, the 
very stones seem sharers of his joy. They are the 
choir and he the leader of a band, who, at the lifting 
of his hand, pours forth whole floods of harmony. The 
sweet singer of Israel felt this love in his heart when he 
exclaimed, " Praise ye Him, sun and moon : praise him 
all ye stars of light. Praise Him, ye heaven of heavens, 
and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them 

(35) 



86 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

praise the name of the Lord : for he coramandefl and 
they were created. He hath also established them for- 
ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not 
pass. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and 
all deeps : fire, and hail ; snow, and vapor ; stormy 
wind fulfilling his word : mountains, and hills, fruitful 
trees, and all cedars : beasts, and all cattle ; creeping 
things, and flying fowl : kings of the earth : both young 
men, and maidens ; old men, and children : let them 
praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is 
excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." 
Psalni cxlviii. 3-13 ; Luke xix. 40. " And every 
creature which is in heaven and on earth, and such as 
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, 
Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him 
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb," for- 
ever and ever." 



Praise ye the Lord, ye immortal choirs 

That fill the worlds above ; 
Praise him who form'd you of his fires, 

And feeds you with his love. 

Thou restless globe of golden light, 
Whose beams create our days, 

Join with the silver queen of night, 
To own your borrow'd rays. 

Thunder and hail, and fire and storms, 
The troops of his command, 

Appear in all your dreadful forms, 
And speak his awful hand. 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 87 

Shout to the Lord, ye surging seas, 

In your eternal roar ; 
Let wave to wave resound his praise, 

And shore reply to shore. 

A young man who had long been the subject of a 
pious mother's prayers, speaking of his early Christian 
experience, says, " After listening to a powerful sermon 
on the sufferings and death of Christ, I went home 
much oppressed. I spoke to no one, and did not dare 
to lift my eyes from my feet, as I expected the earth to 
open and swallow me. The commotion of my soul was 
altogether such as language cannot describe. I crept, 
as it were, to my room, locked my door, and fell upon 
my knees ; but no words came. I could not pray. 
The perspiration was oozing from every pore. How 
long 1 remained on my knees I know not ; happily, this 
fearful agony of mind did not last long, or I should have 
died. Some hours elapsed — hours like ages, in which I 
felt myself before the throne of righteous judgment. 
While the process was going on I was dumb. Had the 
salvation of my soul depended on a word, I could not 
have uttered it. But He who had smitten graciously 
healed. As if they had been slowly unfolded before 
me, there appeared these never to be forgotten words, 
'The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from 
all sin.' 1 John i. 7; Rom. iii. 25, 26; x. 4-12; Col. ii. 
14; Heb. viii. 12. I had read these wonderful words 
often, but now they appeared new to me. I gazed, 
believed, loved, and embraced them. The crisis was 
4 



38 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

past. A tlood of tears rushed from my eyes; my 
tongue was set at liberty, and I shouted, Glory to 
God! 

" For three days after this I was filled with indescri- 
bable joy. I thought I saw heaven, with its blessed inha- 
bitants, and its glorious King. I thought He was looking 
at me with uuutterable compassion, and that I recog- 
nized Him as Jesus, my Saviour, who had laid me under 
eternal obligations. The world and all its riches ap- 
peared utterly worthless. The conduct of ungodly men 
filled me with grief and pity. I saw everything in an 
entirely new light. A strong desire to fly to heathen 
lands, that I might preach the news to idolaters, filled 
my heart, and I felt assured that I had but to open my 
lips to convince every one of the infinite grace of Christ 
and the infinite value of Salvation." 

These raptures are sometimes allowed to new converts 
as foretastes of heavenly bliss, and to convince their 
minds that the religion of the glorious Gospel of Jesus 
Christ is what it is represented to be. But new con- 
verts are yet too carnal to be capable of their constant 
enjoyment. The principal concern and business of the 
new convert is to seek growth in grace, rather than 
flights of ecstacy; to struggle against the motions of 
fallen nature, and the suggestions of fallen spirits; and 
if the new convert does this with faithful perseverance, 
he will give true proof of that Christian fortitude which 
will be distinguished by the crown of victory. 1 Cor. ix. 
2*7; Eph. iv. l'r-25; v. 10-16; Rev. xxi. 1. The edu- 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 39 

cation and discipline must be more or less severe, accord- 
ing to the necessities of each individual case, in order to 
wear out vicious habits ; to recover strength of self-gov- 
ernment, which worldly indulgence must have weakened; 
to repair, as well as to raise into a habit, the moral prin- 
ciple, in order to their arriving at a secure state of virtu- 
ous happiness. 

The body enslaves the soul by nature, but by grace 
the spirit learns to master the material. The Christian is 
fleshly, earthly, and sensual, in so far as the material pre- 
dominates over the spiritual; and he is spiritual in so. far 
as his spirit subdues the power of bodily influences. 
Clearness of vision, and firmness of foot, and beauty of 
prospect, come only to those who have struggled up to 
the heights — to the ''heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 
Conversion may be the work of a moment; but a saint is 
not made in an hour. Character — Christian, character — 
is not an act; but a process ; not a sudden creation, but a 
development. It grows and bears fruit like a tree ; and, like 
a tree, it requires patient care and unwearied cultivation. 

Take another case, " My heart was flooded with de- 
light; it was a wedding-day to my soul, and I w^ore 
robes fairer than ever graced a bridal. My eyes were 
windows lighted up with happiness ; my feet were young 
roes bounding with pleasure, my lips were fountains 
gushing with song, and my ears were the seats of min- 
strels. It was hard to contain my rapture within the 
narrow bounds of prudence. Like the insects leaping 
in the sunshine, or the fish sporting in the stream, I 



40 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

could have danced to and fro in the convulsions of my 
delight. Was I sick, my pleasure drowned my pain ; 
v^as I feeble, my bliss renewed my strength. Each 
broken bone praised God ; each strained sinew blessed 
him. I knew no thought beyond, no hope above, the 
perfect satisfaction of that hour; for Christ and his sal- 
vation had filled my soul with unutterable joy and 
peace. 

*'As the portals of earth were opening for the coming 
of the summer, so was I preparing for glorious da3^s of 
happiness and fruitfulness. Everything in creation was 
in keeping with my condition, as if nature was but a 
dress made by a skilful hand, fitting my new-born soul 
in every part. I was supremely blest. My heart was 
like a bell dancing at bridal joys, and the world was full 
of bells chiming with it. I was glad, and nature cried, 
' Child, lend me thine hand, and we will dance together, 
for I too am at ease since my great Lord hath loosed me 
from my wintry fetters ; come on, happy soul, and wan- 
der where thou wilt, for, 

"The softening air is balm; 
Echo the mountains round ; the forest smiles ; 
And every sense and every heart is joy." 

Come on, then, and sport with me on this our mutual 
feast, for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, 
the flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the singing 
of birds has come and the voice of the turtle is heard in 
our land : the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 41 

the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. 
Arise, come away. 

*' Come away to the skies, my beloved, arise. 
And rejoice in the day thou wast born; 
On this festival day, come exulting away, 
And with singing to Zion return." ' 

We do not expect to behold the Holy Ghost with our 
bodily eyes, or to touch Him with our hands ; but we 
need no angel to come down to show us where he 
dwells. We need no vision from heaven to tell us where 
we may find Him. Only show us a man in whom the 
fruits of the Spirit of God are to be seen, and we see one 
who has the Spirit. We will not doubt the inward pres- 
ence of the Almighty cause when we see the outward 
fact of an evident effect. ** What! know ye not," says 
St. Paul, " that your body is the temple of the Holy 
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye 
are not your own. For ye are bought with a price : 
therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, 
which are God's." 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 ; 2 Pet. i. 19 ; Psalm 
XXV. 14. " The world seeth Him not, neither knoweth 
Him, but ye know Him, for he dwelleth with you, and 
shall be in you." John xiv. t ; Col. i. 21 ; 1 John iii. 24. 
" Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith ; prove 
your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how 
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates." 

Saviour, welcome to my heart ; 

Possess thy humble throne ; 
Bid every rival, Lord, depart. 

And reign, Christ, alone. 

4* 



42 THE LOVE THAT PASSETfl KNOWLEDGE. 

The world and Satan I forsake ; 

To thee I all resign ; 
My longing heart, Saviour, take, 

And fill with love divine. 

may I never turn aside, 

Nor from thy bosom flee ; 
Let nothing here my heart divide 

I give it all to thee. 

Can we see the wind on a stormy day ? We can not, 
but we can see the effects of its force and power. When 
we see the clouds driven before it, and the trees bending 
under it — when we hear it whistling through doors and 
windows, or howling round the chimney-tops, we do no', 
for a moment doubt its existence: we say "there is a 
wind." Just so is it with the presence of the Spirit of 
God in the soul. " The wind bloweth," says Jesus, 
" where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 
but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth ; 
so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8 ; 1 
John iv. 4. Can we see the magnetic fluid in the com- 
pass-needle ? We can not. It acts in a mysterious way. 
But when we see that little piece of iron always turning 
to the north, we know at once it is under the secret in- 
fluence of magnetic power. Just so it is with the work 
of the Spirit of God in the soul. 

Ah ! whence that soothing sound that came 

So soft, yet burthening the wind ? 
It kindles, like some latent flame, 

The ardent longings of my mind. 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 48 

It is the Spirit's voice, 

Still as the evening breeze, 
Just sighing through the trees, 
Breathing celestial joys: 
It fills me with un^yonted fire, 
With tender, strong, yet pure desire. 

But, say, my restless, beating heart. 

What object draws thy soaring thought, 
That thou with worlds would'st freely part. 
And deem thy purchase cheaply bought? 
Jesus, my Saviour, God! 

Him my touched soul desires. 
His are these bosom fires. 
Panting to sound abroad 
The name He bears — the love He shows — * 
The grace that from His bounty flows. 

William Cowper, the Christian poet, at one period of 
his history, was driven by a consciousness of guilt to the 
verge of despair. At length he opened the Bible and 
read, " Christ Jesus God hath set forth to be a propitia- 
tion for sin, through faith in his blood, to declare his 
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, 
through the forbearance of God." Rom. iii. 25 ; x. 4-12. 
" Immediately," he says, " I received strength to be- 
lieve, and the full beams of the Sun of Righteousness 
shone upon me. I saw^ that Christ having suffered for 
my sake, and in my stead, it enabled Almighty God, 
consistently with his justice and holiness, to exercise 
his mercy in my behalf. Unless the Almighty Arm 
had been under me, I think I should have been over- 
whelmed with gratitude and joy. My eyes filled with 
tears, and my voice choked with transport; I could only 



44 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

look to heaven in silent fear, overwhelmed with love.and 
wonder. I lost no opportunity of repairing to the throne 
of grace, but flew to it with an earnestness irresistible 
and never to be satisfied. The Lord had enlarged my 
heart, and I could now cheerfully run in the ways of his 
commandments." It was in such a state of mind that 
he composed the sweet hymn, commencing with the 
words, " There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn 
from Immanuel's veins." 



The dying thief rejoiced to see 
That fountain in his day ; 

And there may I, though vile as he, 
Wash all my sins away. 



Take yet another case, " The very fowls of the barn- 
yard flocked around me, tuning their shrill voices, as I 
then thought, joined with all creation to praise the Lord 
for what he had done for my poor soul. I cried out. Can 
this be the same field that I used to travel? — is this 
the same farm, — are these the same buildings? They 
must be the same, but they are changed. ' Ah ! no ! 
no!' was the answer, 'the change is in yourself.' I 
also visited those lonely spots, where in the days of my 
mourning, far from human eye, I used to vent my sighs, 
and make my complaints ; and it appeared as if all these 
shone with lustre unbounded. I leaped — I walked — 
I rejoiced that my sorrows were turned into joy." 

The Spirit of God can take a tinker without learning, 
patronage, or money, — a man at one time notorious for 



THE LOVE THAT FASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 45 

nothing so mnch as blasphemy and swearing, and make 
that man write a religious book which shall stand un- 
rivalled and unequalled in its way by any since the 
time of the Apostles. He did this with John Bunyan, 
the author of Pilgrim's Progress. The Spirit of God 
can take a sailor, drenched in worldliness and sin, — a 
profligate captain of a slave-ship, and make that man a 
most successful minister of the Gospel, — a waiter of 
letters, which are a storehouse of experimental religion, 
and of hymns which are known and sung w^herever the 
English language is spoken. He did this with John 
I^ewton. When the Spirit of God enters the Sailors' 
prayer-meeting, "the poor children of the sea" stand up 
and bear testimony to the infinite love and mercy of 
their glorious Captain, in these words : 

" Shipmates, I am just eight months old to-night in 
my Christian life. I was born again on the sea. 
how happy I have been these eight months of my 
Christian life ! Before that I was a slave to Satan. 
Oh ! what a miserable drudge I was in his cruel service. 
Some of you here to-night know what I was — how 
miserable, on shipboard or shore, alwa^^s miserable in 
my sinful ways and sinful pursuits. But when the 
Holy Spirit convinced me of my guilt and danger, and 
prepared my heart to attend to the call of the glorious 
Gospel of Christ, and led me to the foot of the cross, 
and as a poor despairing sinner, to beg for mercy, and 
God forgave me all for Jesus' sake, I cannot tell you 
what happiness I felt. Shipmates, it was then the 



46 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

great Captain said to me, Now stand by Me, and I will 
stand by you, in calm or storm all the same, and will 
never leave or forsake you. And, glory be to his Name, 
I have found his promise true You all know how it is 
with me now. I am not now the slave I once was to 
Satan. Every day I find the service of my new Master 
more delightful than ever. I am so happy ! Glory 
be to God I Oh ! shipmates, come along with me. 
The great Captain is on board. The articles are open. 
Come and sign them — glorious Commander — beautiful 
Ship — delightful Company," — John xiv. 21-23; Rev. 
iii. 20; Cant. iv. 16; v. 1, 2, — ''splendid voyage — 
bound to a glorious port — princely wages — Oh, ship- 
mates, come along! come along!" 

Another sailor said, " Shipmates, I shall never forget 
the time nor the place when and where God, for Christ's 
sake, spoke peace to my soul. It was on board a man- 
of-war, at the foot of the main-mast, on a dark and 
stormy night, away in mid-ocean, that I first heard the 
accents of forgiveness. I had been a hardened wretch — 
quite as bad as any on board a man-of-war, yet I was 
smitten with conviction of sin, which appalled me. 
Oh ! what a vile sinner I felt myself to be ! My whole 
soul was filled with a sense of sin, and I was bowed 
under the grievous load. But I called on God, at the 
foot of the main-mast, and he pardoned all my sins, for 
Jesus' sake ! Oh ! shipmates, what mercy ! Oh ! what 
an hour was that to my poor soul ! Six years ago it 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 47 

was, and what happy years have those six years been 
to me. 

" Hard was my toil to reach the shore, 

Long tossed upon the ocean ; 
Above me was the thunder's roar. 

Beneath the waves commotion : 
Darkly the pall of night was thrown 

Around me, faint with terror : 
In that dark hour how did my groan 

Ascend for years of error ! 

"Sinking and panting as for breath, 

I knew not help was near me ; 
And cried, ' Oh ! save me. Lord, from death ; 

Immortal Jesus, hear me ;' 
Then quick as thought I felt him mine. 

My Saviour stood before me ; 
I saw his brightness round me shine. 

And shouted, Glory! Glory!" 

A small sailor-boy now arose and said, " I have been 
four years at sea. I have neither father or mother, bro- 
ther or sister. I found out that I was a wicked boy, and 
not too little to go to hell. If I have got nothing else, 
I have got a ' Friend ' — I have got Jesus to comfort and 
cheer my heart with his wonderful love ; and I love him 
too. Shipmates, I feel very happy to-night." The sailor- 
boy's words were not lost. There sat a little boy before 
him overwhelmed with tears. That little boy said to his 
father, on leaving the church: '' Oh, father, I am so glad 
you took me to the poor sailors' prayer-meeting to-night. 
I shall never forget it. Oh, my dear father, I want to be 
a Christian." 



48 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

The Spirit of God can take a prize-fighter, and trainer 
of pugilists, and make him pour out his soul in the house 
of God, in the following manner : — " I feel it my duty to 
tell you what the Lord has done for my soul. I hope 
you will hear all I have to say. There are many here 
who have known me for years, — who have known me 
when I was fearfully wicked. I was on a visit to my 
brother in the country. When I went there I had as 
much idea of getting religion as many of you have now — 
that is none at all. I went to church to oblige the people 
with whom I was staying, that's all. The Saviour was 
there. The Spirit of God was powerfully displayed, and 
went from heart to heart all through the congregation. 
It worked upon me three or four nights. The pastor of 
the church came to me and asked me if I would not like 
to get religion, and serve God. I answered, 'No, I 
didn't care about it just then,' and told him a lie, for I 
did ; I felt as though I needed religion. I got very un- 
easy, and made up my mind I had better leave that part 
of the country, as it was getting too warm for me. I 
told my brother I was going home in the morning. He 
said, 'Wait another day;' and I made up my mind I 
would stay and attend another night. Some remarks 
were made to backsliders the next night, many of whom 
I knew. They sat there unmoved. The minister, and 
my religious friends, had been trying to get me to be a 
Christian, but the devil said, ' Don't be taken in by those 
fellows.' After church that night, we were going home, — 
the minister lived up our way, — I made some remarks 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 49 

about those backsliders, saying to him that, if I were in 
their place I would come out like a man and seek reli- 
gion over again. 

" The minister told me that he thought I was a very 
great sinner ; that I stood in a critical condition, and 
was more likely to be lost than any of them. I said to 
m}" brother, if that was the way the minister was going 
to talk, I would go. I got my carpet-bag ready next 
day and started ; I opened the door ; I wanted to go and 
I didn't want to go ; and I hoped my brother would 
again urge me to stay ; he did so, and I stayed. That 
was on Saturday. After I had my dinner I resolved 
that I would seek the Lord that night. I made a strong 
resolution ; I felt where I stood, and that perhaps it was 
the last time the Spirit of God would strive with me. 
Saturday night the invitation was given to come forward 
to the Altar, and I got up, went forward, and fell on my 
knees by the altar. I tried as hard as ever man did, but 
I got no religion, — no peace. Sunday night I attended 
with a like result. That night I could not sleep, my 
sins looked so frightful ; they came up on every hand 
and stared at me ; all the sins of my life crowded upon 
me, many I should not have thought of, had not the Spirit 
of God brought them before me. My heart was over- 
whelmed with grief; I could not sleep. Monday morn- 
ing I got up and prayed ; I did the best I could ; I asked 
the Lord to take away the weight that bore me down so. 
A friend came to me that day and said he was going to 
take a ride and would like to have my company. Know- 
5 



50 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

ing him to be a good man, I consented, thinking he 
might do me good. There was little said as we rode 
along, but my friend told me to keep looking for the Sa- 
viour; that I was trying to get religion, and had let 
everybody know it ; the Lord was willing to bless me at 
any time or anywhere. I was riding along, singing a 
hymn, and in an instant I felt as though I was blessed. 
I am sure I gave up my soul and body. The first thing 
I knew, God spoke peace to my soul. It came like a 
shot, — it came like lightning, when I was not antici- 
pating it, and the first thing I said was, * Glory to God ! 
Glory to God ! ' My friend said he knew God had blessed 
me, for he felt the shock too. The change was sur- 
prising ; everything appeared to have been blessed ; 
even the horse and wagon. I felt strong. I could 
almost fly. 

♦ 0, sacred hour ! 0, hallowed spot ! 

Where love divine first found me : 
Wherever falls my distant lot, 

My heart shall linger round thee; 
And when from earth I rise to soar 

Up to my home in heaven, 
Down will I cast my eyes once more 

Where I was first forgiven.' 

" Glory be to God,' this religion is good ! My faith in 
the Lord Jesus grows stronger every day. I would face 
all the men that ever lived, and tell them I am bound 
for heaven." 

All this sounds like "foolishness" to those who know 
not God ; but tens of thousands of living men could 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 51 

stand up this day and testify that it is true. They could 
tell you that they know it all by experience, and that 
they do indeed feel themselves new men. They love 
the things that once they hated, and hate the things that 
once they loved. They have new habits, new ways, 
new tastes, new joys, new sorrows, new feelings, new 
opinions, new anxieties, new pleasures, new hopes and 
new fears. In short the whole bias and current of their 
being is changed. Once they cared only for this world, 
its pleasures, its business, its occupations, its rewards. 
Xow they look upon it as an empty unsatisfying place, 
— an inn, — a lodging, — a training-school for the life to 
come. Their treasure is in heaven ; their home beyond 
the grave. They see the beacon-light of their '* Father's 
house," that so cheeringly speaks of a home brighter 
and better than the happiest of earthly ones, cheering 
their hearts, and leading them to forget the intervening 
billows, or to think of them only as wafting tjbem nearer 
to their desired haven. 

Let none doubt their calling because it came not with 
the sound of a trumpet ; let them not measure their own 
feelings by those of other men, and because they are not 
precisely the same, at once conclude they are no children 
of the Kingdom. No two leaves upon a tree are pre- 
cisely alike, — variety is the rule of nature; the line of 
beauty runs not in an undeviating course ; and in grace 
the same rule holds good. " There are," says St. Paul, 
" divers operations, but it is the same God which- worketh 
all in all." 



52 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

Adore the power which is not bound down to unity 
of method, but which can open the eyes by the clay and 
spittle, or by the simple touch of the finger. Jesus cried 
with a loud voice, saying, " Lazarus, come forth !" but 
the restoration was as speedily effected when he gently 
said, ''Maid, arise." Zaccheus was called from the tree 
with a voice that the crowd could hear ; but it was a 
still voice which in the garden said, "Mary." Oh, the 
emotions of Mary's heart in that dark hour, when she 
stood in the midst of the congregated and insulting 
crowd, and beheld her dear Lord and Saviour suffering 
for those who were turning his sufferings into mockery ! 
She saw that brow, which is now encircled with a dia- 
dem of glory, covered with sweat and blood, lacerated 
and torn with the cruel crown of thorns ! Her eyes 
were red with weeping, and dim with sorrow. The 
hands that now hold the sceptre of universal dominion, 
so often stretched forth when upon earth to relieve the 
needy, or lifted up in prayer, were then stretched and 
nailed to the bloody beam ! Oh, what horror rushed 
through Mary's soul when she heard the voice of agony 
exclaiming, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me!" Oh the joy of her soul when she heard His well- 
known voice again saying to her, " Mary." Ah, weeper ! 
happy weeper ! — 

To thee how bright a morn was given, 

After thy long vigil of despair; 

When that high voice which burial rocks had riven, 

Thrilled with immortal tones the silent air. 



THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 53 

Never did clarion royal blast declare 
Such tale of victory to a breathless crowd, 
As the deep sweetness of one word could bear 
Into thy heart of hearts. woman ! bowed 
By strong affection's anguish — one low word, 
"Mary,** and all the triumph wrung from death 
Was thus revealed ! and thou that had'st so erred, 
So wept, and been forgiven, in trembling faith 
Did'st cast thee down before th' all-conquering Son, 
Awed by the mighty gift thy tears and love had won. 

Much love and much sorrow must go together iu 
this vale of tears. Matt. xxvi. 37-39 ; John xi. 33-36 ; 
xvi. 20-33; Rom. ix. 1, 2; xii. 15, 16; 2 Cor. ii. 4; vi. 
9, 10 ; Heb. v. 1, 8. But let the Christian soldier '' be 
of good cheer," for "the morning coraeth" — that bright 
morning when the dew-drops collected during earth's 
night of weeping shall sparkle in eternal sunbeams ; 
when in one blessed moment a life-long experience of 
trial will be effaced and forgotten. In that day, the 
Lord "will rejoice over his people with joy ; he will rest 
in his love, he will joy over them with singing." 

Mary knew no anchor of hope, no ground of consola- 
tion, no way to heaven, except through the mediation of 
her blessed Lord, and were she to imagine existence 
without him, she could only think of herself as in the 
jaws of despair, and irrecoverably lost. He was her last 
resource, but at the same time all-sufficient for her eter- 
nal salvation. Hence she clave to him with all her soul, 
and nothing was able to separate her from him. He was 
always in her thoughts, her soul's delight, and the su- 
preme object of her affections — all which she expressed 
6* 



54 THE LOVE THAT PASSETH KNOWLEDGE. 

in the act of anointing in Simon's house. She did not 
pour out a few drops only of the precious ointment, but 
the whole — as an emblem of her profound devotion to 
"the Lord of Glory." With the utmost reverence she 
approached her Divine friend, broke behind him the well- 
closed vessel, shed the spikenard upon his lovely head 
and feet, then humbly bent herself down and wiped the 
latter with her loosened tresses. In this affectionate 
and symbolical act, a degree of devotedness was mani- 
fested such as is rarely, if ever, exhibited among Chris- 
tians in our day. Mary desired to belong to Christ for 
time and eternity 5 to cleave to him by faith, like the ivy 
to the tree. She wished to live in his light, like a dark 
planet in the beams of the sun, which lends it its radi- 
ance. Mary soon followed the dear "Friend" of her 
once unhappy soul to glory, where she is now singing 
the song of redeeming love. 

" Oh, I want to put on my attire, 

Washed white in the blood of the Lamb ; 
I want to be one of your choir, 

And tune my sweet harp to his name ! 
l^want — oh, I want to be there, 

Where sorrow and sin bid adieu, 
Your joy and your friendship to share, 

To wander and worship with you." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE WARFARE. 

What God does to the true members of his Church — The true nature 
of the Christian warfare — The devices of Satan — His onsets constant — 
Leave no unguarded place — What the Christian must expect and do — 
No cross no crown — The hidden designs of God — The rod — Words of 
cheer for sinking hearts — The morning without clouds — The everlasting 
hills of glory appear — The spirit of God sounds a string here and there 
— Conflicts and trials — The way God teaches and trains his children — 
Fearful consequences of counteracting His afflictive dispensations — 
Frightful suflFerings and deaths of the most precious and lovely of God's 
children — Dreadful end of the wicked — Steadfastness of the saints of old 
— Why the Christian's course is not strewed with flowers and sunbeams. 

The true members of Christ's Church are chosen in 
the furnace of affliction, Isaiah xlviii. 10 ; Rev. vii. 14 ; 
and when they are tried they come forth as gold. Job 
xxiii. 10 ; 2 Tim. iv. 6-8. The heat of the furnace 
burns out the dross and leaves the pure metal behind. 
It is in the furnace that the flesh is destroyed and the 
old man gets his death-blow. It is in the furnace that 
self-confidence is uptorn, unbelief broken, and faith 
strengthened, and purified. The Holy Spirit and man's 
sin cannot live together peaceably ; they may be both in 
the same heart, but they cannot both reign there, nor 
can they both be quiet there ; for " the Spirit lusteth 

(55) 



56 THE WARFARE. 

against the flesh, and the flesh lusteth against the 
Spirit ;" they cannot rest, but there will be a perpetual 
warring in the soul, so that the Christian will have to 
cry out, " Oh, wretched man that I am I who shall 
deliver me from the body of this death." In another 
place, it is said of this inward warfare, " For unto you it 
is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on 
Him, but also to sufi'er for his sake, having the same 
conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in 
me." Phil. i. 29, 30 ; 1 Thess. iii. 5, 6 ; Heb. x. 32-39 ; 2 
Peter ii. 20-22. But let the troubled Christian " be of 
good cheer," for in due time the Spirit of God will drive 
out the " strong man armed," and " take from him all 
his armor wherein he trusted," and will "lead captivity 
captivie,'' and present the faithful soldier of the Cross 
blameless before the throne of His Majesty with exceed- 
ing joy. Luke xi. 21, 22 ; Psalm Ixviii. 18. " Then 
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory ! death where is 
thy sting ? grave, where is thy victory ? The sting 
of death is sin ; and the strength of sin is the law. But 
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The best soldiers of Jesus Christ are always called to 
drink deepest of his cup, and carry the heaviest burdens. 
He who lays down his armor when the battle is ever 
raging, will be in as great danger as though he had no 
weapon at command. The onsets of Satan are constant, 
and the soul that hopes to glide gently and unappre- 



THE WAR FARE. * 67 

hendingly along the way to heaven will at length 
discover the fatal mistake. The real life of every man 
is the inner life of conflict, of temptation, of hope, fear, 
remorse, despair. Never did battle at Pharsalia or 
Waterloo rage like the battle which often desolates the 
soul of man. Bunyan has endeavored to depict this 
strife, in the fierce conflict with Apollyon. But the 
reality will defy the descriptive powder of any human 
pen. There is nothing on this side of eternity more 
sublime and full of awe than this soul-warfare, as some 
experience it. 

Satan usually finds a season of affliction favorable to 
his work of temptation, and he never fails to avail him- 
self of it. When Pharaoh was informed that the 
children of Israel w^ere entangled in the wilderness, 
he resolved to pursue them, and mustered his forces 
for the purpose, in the anticipation of an easy and 
decisive victory. Thus when Satan sees the Christian 
soldier entangled with perplexity and distress, he comes 
in upon him like a flood, that, if possible, he may utterly 
overwhelm him. In this manner he assailed the Son 
of God himself. It was w'hen approaching the awful 
consummation of his woes, and when his soul was 
" exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," that Satan and 
his hosts exerted their utmost malice against him, and 
turned the hour of his deepest anguish into the hour 
and power of darkness. Thus it w^as with Job. It 
was when he was sufi'ering from the irritating influence 
of his complicated woes, that he tempted him to " curse 



68 • THE WAR FARE. 

God and die." Some of his temptations are of a nature 
not to be misunderstood ; their design is self-evident — 
to excite a murmuring and rebellious disposition, by 
representing God as a hard task-master ; as severe and 
vindictive in his dispositions — unjust and unreasonable 
in his requirements ; thus he seeks to inflame the 
passions, to pervert the judgment, and to excite bitter- 
ness, opposition, and presumption. Or he approaches 
in a more covert and subtle manner, and by reasoning, 
not against God, but for him, although in a manner 
equally false and deceptive, he endeavors to cast the 
soul into despondency, and to prevent it from obtaining 
help or comfort. Great is the distress which, in conse- 
quence, is sometimes experienced. 

My soul, be on thy guard ; 

Ten thousand foes arise ; 
The hosts of sin are pressing hard 

To draw thee from the skies. 

watch, and fight, and pray ; 

The battle ne'er give o'er ; 
Renew it boldly every day, 

And help divine implore. 

Ne'er think the vict'ry won, 

Nor lay thine armor down ; 
The work of faith will not be done, 

Till thou obtain the crown. 

Then persevere till death 

Shall bring thee to thy God ; 
He'll take thee, at thy parting breath, 

To his divine abode. 



THE WARFARE. 59 

The way to the crown is by the cross. If justified by 
faith, we must suffer tribulations also. Go round to 
every saint in glory ; every one has a different story, 
yet each has a tale of suffering. One was persecuted 
by his "friends." Psalm xli. 5-8; 2 Tim. iii. 11, 12; 
Zech xiii. 6. Another fell into the hands of " false 
brethren," who, "through covetousness," made mer- 
chandise of him, " speaking great swelling words, 
having men's persons in admiration because of advan- 
tage." 2 Peter ii. 3 ; Jude xvi. Another lost all his 
property, houses, lands, money, and friends. Phil. iii. 8 ; 
Heb. X. 34 ; 2 Cor. viii. 9. Another was bereaved of 
his children, and visited by sore diseases. Job ii. 9, 10 ; 
Psalms xxxviii. and Ixxxviii. ; Lam. iii. 1-21. Another 
had lived among depraved men and women, with fear- 
fully wicked children, who vexed his righteous soul 
from day to day with their filthy conversation and un- 
lawful deeds. 2 Peter ii. 4-8 ; Ezek. xvi. 49, 50 ; 1 Sam. 
iii. 13. Another had all these afflictions and troubles 
in one, — "deep called unto deep," but mark, all are 
brought out of them. It was a dark cloud, but — glory 
be to God — it passed away; the water was deep, but 
they reached their "Father's house." Rev. vii. 9-14; 
Isaiah xlviii. 17 ; John xiii. T. Not one of them blames 
God foi the road he led them ; their only cry is, " Unto 
Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto 
God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for- 
ever and ever. Amen " 



60 THE WARFARE. 

Were it not for the furnace of affliction, what would 
become of the Christian's dross and alloy ? And when 
the silver is in the crucible the Refiner himself comes 
near. " Thus saith the Lord, behold I will melt them 
and try them, for how shall I do for the daughter of my 
people." Jer. ix. 1. "I will turn My hand upon thee, 
and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy 
tin." Isaiah i. 25; Dan. xii. 10; Matt. xiii. 43. Does 
the craftsman throw the precious metals into the fire 
and forget them ? No ; they are too costly. He is 
anxious and careful respecting them. He sits patiently 
at the door of the furnance intently watchful. As soon 
as he sees his own face reflected from the molten metal 
within, he knows that the process has been successful, 
and he abates the fury of the flames. So- does Jesus 
watch the furnace of affliction in which his people are 
being purified, not allowing them to suffer injury and 
loss, but only waiting to see his own image reflected in 
their hearts. 

Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotion. Suffer- 
ing has kept tens of thousands of the children of God 
from sinning. " How kindly has God," says the 
lamented Kev. Robert M. M'Cheyne, of Dundee, Scot- 
land, " thwarted me in every instance where I sought 
to enslave myself. I will learn at last to glory in dis- 
appointments." '' Blessed," says the Psalmist, 'Ms the 
man whom Thou chasteneth, and teachest him out of 
thy law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted ; 
that I might learn Thy statutes. Before I was afflicted 



THE WARFARE. 61 

1 went astray, but now I have kept Thy word." Psalm 
cxix. 6t-t5 ; Deut. viii. 5, 6. " Blessed is the man that 
endureth temptation ; for when he is tried, he shall 
receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised 
to them that love him." 

Disciples of a suffering Saviour, count on suffering ; 
reckon it not as a strange thing that you should be 
attacked by Satan and his emissaries — Belial and his 
sons. John viii. 44 ; Eph. ii. 2. You shall be more than 
conquerors through Him that loved you. 1 Cor. xv. 57; 

2 Cor. ii. 14 ; 2 Tim. iv. t, 8. The Lord knows the 
sorrows of his people. Exod. iii. T ; Judges x. 16. He 
weeps with them. In all their afflictions he is afflicted. 
He is touched with the feelings of their griefs as w^ell as 
of their infirmities. How often does he come to us as 
he did to the disciples in that midnight hour when all 
seemed lost — "in the fourth watch of the night," when 
w^e least looked for him ; or when like the shipwrecked 
Apostle, ''for days together neither sun nor stars ap- 
peared and no small tempest lay on us ; when all hope 
that we should be saved seemed to be taken away," how 
often just at that moment has his sweet voice been 
heard floating over the billows, saying, " Be of good 
cheer: it is I; be not afraid." John vi. 20; Isaiah Iii. 
6. It is the same brief utterance with which he calmed 
the storm-tossed children of God in every age. '' If the 
Lord," says the Psalmist, "had not stood by me, the 
deep waters would have gone over my soul." The Lord 
never forsakes those who love him, "with the whole 

G 



62 THE W All FAKE. 

heart," and do that which is right in his sight. Heb. 
xiii. 6 ; Isaiah xhii. 1, 2. " Can a woman forget her 
sucking child, that she should not have compassion on 
the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I 
not forget thee." 

Every human tie may perish ; 

Friend to friend unfaithful prove ; 
Mothers cease their own to cherish ; 

Heaven and earth at last remove ; 
But no changes 

Can attend Jehovah's love. 

In the furnace God may prove thee. 

Thence to bring thee forth more bright, 

But can never cease to love thee ; 
Thou art precious in his sight : 

God is with thee — 
God, thine everlasting Light. 

The Lord often brings those who come to him into 
untried places, that they may seek out the guiding 
pillar, and prize its radiance. He puts them on the 
darkening waves, that they may follow the guiding 
light hung out astern from the only Bark that was ever 
proof against the storm. How does he quiet their fears 
and misgivings ? As they stand panting on the bleak 
mountain side, he points his crook to the shining gates 
of glory, an(^ says, " Fear not, little flock ; it is your 
Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." 
What gentle words ! what a blessed consummation ! 
And when they stand on the verge of the grave, He 
says, "Fear not," for "My presence shall go with thee." 



THE WAKFARE. 63 

" When thou passest through the waters, I will be w^ith 
thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow 
thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt 
not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee ; 
for I am the Lord th}^ God, the Holy One of Israel, thy 
Saviour." 

The life of the Christian is a life of faith His spirit 
is brought, by faith, into communion with the life of 
heaven ; a life which only he who feels it knows. Eph. 
iii. 18, 19 ; 1 John iv. 4. This communion is shadowed 
forth in Scripture in such passages as these : " The 
Secret of the Lord is with them- that fear him." Psalm 
XXV. 14 ; John xiv. 21-23. "In Thy Light shall we see 
light." Psalm xxxvi. 9. "But we have this Treasure in 
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may 
be of God, and not of us." 2 Cor. iv. T. " We have also 
a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well 
that ye take heed, as unto a Light that shineth in a 
dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in 
your hearts." 2 Peter i. 19. "If ye then be risen with 
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ 
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set 3^our affections on 
things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are 
dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When 
Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also 
appear with him in glory." " Put on, therefore, as the 
elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kind- 
ness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering ; for- 
bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any 



61 THE WARFARE. 

man have a quarrel against any : even as Christ forgave 
you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on 
charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the 
peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are 
called in one body ; and be ye thankful. Let the word 
of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom ; teaching 
and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and 
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to 
the Lord." 

Ye faithful souls, who Jesus know, 

If risen indeed with him ye are, 
Superior to the joys below, 

His resurrection's power declare. 

Your faith by holy tempers prove : 
By actions show your sins forgiven: 

And seek the glorious things above, 

And follow Christ your head to heaven. 

There your exalted Saviour see. 
Seated at God's right hand again, 

In all his Father's majesty, 
In everlasting pomp to reign. 

For who by faith your Lord receive, 
Ye nothing seek or want beside ; 

Dead to the world and sin ye live ; 
Your creature love is crucified. 

Your real life with Christ conceal'd 

Deep in the Father's bosom lies; 
And glorious as your Head reveal'd. 

Ye soon shall meet him in the skies. 



THE WARFARE. 65 

The Lord loves his people too well to make the world 
tearless and sorrowless. Be assured there is a disguised 
love in all he does. He knows us infinitely better than 
we know ourselves, and often puts a "thorn" in our nest 
to drive our affections from things of earth. The Lord 
chastens his own; for the children of wrath is reserved 
retribution in another state of being. Job xxvii. 8-22 ; 
Psalms xlix. and Ixxiii. Oh take courage ; the " rough 
dealings" of to-day are an earnest of loving dealings by- 
and-by. It is in this manner the sheep is brought into 
the fold by the barking of the dog ; and in this fashion the 
ship is compelled by the storm to make for the nearest 
haven. " AYhat I do thou knowest not now ; but thou 
shalt know hereafter." Johnxiii. 7; Isaiah xlviii. lY. The 
darkness which you now experience may be for the pur- 
pose of extinguishing in you those false lights of human 
reasoning, which oppose the hidden designs of God ; he 
wishes that you should allow yourself to be conducted, 
as one blind, by the hand of his good pleasure. " For 
the Lord's portion is his people ; Jacob is the lot of 
his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and 
in the waste and howling wilderness ; he led him 
about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of 
his eye." Deut. xxxii. 9, 10. Abandon yourself then, 
with the generosity of a noble heart, to his guidance. 
You can not have- your own pleasure in this world, 
and afterward reign with Christ. If God sends you 
great sufferings, it is a sign that he is preparing you for 
that delightful country, 



bb THE WARFARJB. 

Where all his beauties you behold, 
And sing his name on harps of gold. 

The critical events and great disappointments of the 
Christian's life, that so stagger and amaze him, are not 
so wonderful or mysterious as in his own bewildering 
grief he is apt to think them. The great events of his 
life strike him with surprise, because he fails to perceive 
that God is administering all things with reference to a 
spiritual commonwealth. We are seldom at agreement 
with his providence ; or with the spiritual economy of 
this world ; or with the interests of our being in its 
highest developments. Yet we are vain, proud, head- 
strong, impetuous, irascible, impatient under restraint, 
and rebellious under discipline. Is it strange, then, that 
at every step of our Christian career we are met by op- 
posing forces ? Amos iii. 3-6 ; Levit. xxvi. 18-30. Is not 
every wise household a microcosmic moral government 
where the parents both please and pain their children, 
repeating in a minor sphere, the very administrative acts 
of overruling, denying, compelling, paining, and punish- 
ing for their good, their own children, as in the greater 
sphere God thwarts and disciplines them ? This is clearly 
stated in Deut. viii. 5 : " Thou shalt consider in thine 
heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy 
God chasteneth thee. Therefore thou shalt keep the 
commandments of the Lord thy God, to v/alk in his 
ways, and to fear him." The same thing is said in Heb. 
xii. 5-8 : " And ye have forgotten the exhortation which 
speaketh unto you as unto ciiildren, My son, despise not 



THE WARFARE. 67 

thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art 
rebuked of him : for whom the Lord loveth he chas- 
teneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If 
ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with 
sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not ? 
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are par- 
takers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." 

Why should we doubt a Father's love, 

So constant and so kind ? 
To his unerring, gracious will 

Be evei-y wish resigned. 

Good, when he gives — supremely good. 

Nor less when he denies ; 
E'en crosses, from his sovereign hand, 

Are blessings in disguise. 

We are commanded to hear " the voice of the rod, and 
who hath appointed it." But man is stupid and insensi- 
ble with respect to divine things, and divine teaching. 
God speaks plainly, but he will not hear. God mani- 
fested his presence sufficiently to the children of Israel 
in the wilderness, but they were slow in learning that 
he was ever with them, to instruct and to bless them, 
and that what they suffered or enjoyed proceeded 
from himself. How little do professors of religion in 
general, look at the design of God in their trials ! 
They have no solemn recognition of His all-disposing 
government and superintendence ; no thought of the 
course of events, but as regulated by something which 
they call "general laws," and then blended with 



68 THE WAEFARE. 

" chance ;" or the afflictions by which they are exercised, 
but as the exclusive results of what is merely subordi- 
nate agency. Like the Philistines in the days of Eli, 
they do not see the hand of God in anything. 1 Sam. vi. 
9 ; Amos iii. 6 ; Jer. v. 3-31 ; Hosea vii. 2. But not so 
with the experienced soldier of Christ ; he sees the hand 
of God in everything. He knows that in whatever way 
an affliction may be intended to operate, its object is the 
promotion of his welfare. Job v. 6, T ; Heb. xii. 4-13 ; 
Rev. iii. 19 ; Deut. viii. 5. Is his body afflicted, he is 
thankful that his mind continues vigorous and entire. 
Is he poor and despised, he feels in his heart that he 
has the favor and enjoyment of God ; and can be be 
despicable who is favored with the special friendship of 
the sovereign Majesty of the Universe ? Isaiah Ixvi. 2 ; 
Jer. ix. 23, 24 ; Rev. ii. 9, 10. Can he be miserable 
who has " the Lord of glory" for his portion, who enjoys 
the fountain of all happiness, and who has the light of 
God's countenance to cheer him, and the consolations of 
the Divine Spirit to comfort and refresh his soul ? 

Intimatel}^ acquainted with all the circumstances of 
his people, their age, situation, dispositions, advantages, 
and temptations, the Lord sees the particular kind of 
affliction which is needed for the promotion of their wel- 
fare. He places some of his saints in the vale of pov- 
erty, because he knows they could not resist the snares 
of affluence ; — ot^iers he deprives of bodily health ; some 
he dooms to months and years of great adversity ; others 
he bereaves of family and friends, and leaves them, as 



THE WARFARE. 69 

forlorn pilgrims, to grope their way to the new Jerusa- 
lem. But, in all these methods of his prov^idence, he is 
guided by that infinite wisdom which prompts him to 
study the different characters of his children, and to ap- 
portion that discipline to each of them which will best 
secure the end of all the divine dispensations — the sal- 
vation of their souls. The Saviour himself was made 
perfect through sufferings ; and the character of the 
Christian is more formed and improved by his afflictions 
than by his enjoyments. Psalm cxix. 61, 11, TS ; 1 Pet. 
V. 8-10. Afflictions are heavenly agents, and work out 
for the Christian " a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory." When the afflictions are for right- 
eousness' sake, for keeping a good conscience, for ad- 
hering to the truth as it is in Jesus, and for attachment 
to his cause, they lose their name, and become an honor 
— a filling up of the measure of the Saviour's suffer- 
ings, and the Christian "glorifies in this behalf;" for he 
knows that affliction has not merely a blessing in it, but 
it is, in itself, a blessing. 

As in a time of rain and cloud, the distant hills look 
nearer, so do the everlasting hills of Glory appear in the 
cloudy and dark day, nearer, brighter, more glorious. — 
sparkling with ten thousand rills of love and covenant 
faithfulness, unseen and unobserved before. 

Lord of our souls, thou Saviour ever dear, 
Be still our rainbow in the clouds of life; 

In thy pure sunlight meet each rising tear, — 
Our Arc of Triumph in the scenes of strife. 



70 THE WARFARE. 

Radiant with mercy calm the sinking heart, 

And beam thro' sorrow's night, and suff 'ring's gloom, 

A deathless Iris that will not depart, 

But shine with hues unfading o'er the tomb. 

There would be no Bow in the material heavens but 
for the cloud. Lovelier, indeed, to the eye, is the azure 
blue — the fleecy summer vapors, or the gold and vermil- 
lion of western sunsets. But what would become of the 
earth if no dark clouds from time to time hung over it ; 
distilling their treasures — reviving and refreshing its 
drooping vegetable tribes ? Is it otherwise with the 
soul? iV'ay. The cloud of sorrow is needed ; its every 
rain-drop has an inner meaning of love. 1 Cor. x. 1-4 ; 
Rom. xi. 25-33. Here we are often baffled at the Lord's 
dispensations; we cannot fathom his ways; — like the 
well of Sychar, they are deep, and we have nothing to 
draw with. But — glory be to God — soon the mystery 
will be finished ; the enigmatical seals, with all their 
inner meanings, opened. When that "morning without 
clouds" shall break, each soul will be like the angel stand- 
ing in the sun, — there will be no shadow ; all will be 
perfect day ! Blessed indeed shall the righteous be in 
that day! They shall shine like stars, no longer ob- 
scured with clouds. Isaiah xxv. 7, 8 ; Dan. xii. 2, 3 ; 
Mai. iii. 16, 17 ; Matt. xiii. 43. They shall be beautiful 
as the lily, no longer "choked with thorns." 

That joy — that joy, is it promised to me? 
0, had I the wings of a dove, I would flee, 
And ne'er would I slacken or fold my wing. 
Till I reached that joy's everlasting Spring. 



THE WARFARE. 71 

Stay, foolish heart, thy impatience awhile ; 

The work of faith with hope's visions beguile: 

He who would enter the joy of his Lord, 

First serves — then, through grace, expects the reward. 

Yes, wait a little ; scorn and contempt will soon be 
over. Laughter and ridicule shall soon have an end. 
Slander and misrepresentation will soon cease. Jesus 
shall come and plead your cause, and then as Moses said 
to Korah, " the Lord will show who are his." St. Paul 
longed to be with Christ, and yet with quiet resignation 
to his heavenly Father's will, he waited patiently until 
his change came. His constant prayer was, that Christ 
might be honored in him, w^hether it be by life or by 
death. When he wrote to the Church at Philippi from 
his prison at Rome, he said, " To me to live is Christ, 
and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the 
fruit of my labor ;" (i. e., I know that if I continue here, 
I shall gain more souls for Christ,) " but what I shall 
choose I know not, for I am in a strait between two, 
having a desire to depart and to be with Christ ; which 
is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more 
needful for you," Phil. i. 20-24. This language beau- 
tifully exemplifies the character of a faithful soldier of 
Christ. 

My soul, never forget in the dark night of sorrow, 
desertion, sickness, and pain, that all things are working 
together for thy good, even when thou art suffering 
most. Be not afraid of suffering, " It is enough for the 
disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his 
Lord." In the world, from the world, all true disciples 



72 THE WAR FAKE. 

of Jesus must have tribulation. " We glory," says St. 
Paul, "in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation 
worketh patience ; and patience, experience : experience, 
hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love 
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost 
which is given unto us." Says another apostle, ''Be- 
loved, think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial 
which is to try you, as though some strange thing hap- 
pened unto you ; but rejoice inasmuch as ye are par- 
takers of Christ's sufferings ; that, when his glory shall 
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are 
ye ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. 
On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is 
glorified." 

It is not so much by the symmetry of what the Chris- 
tian attains in this life that he is to be made happy, as 
by the enlivening hope of w^hat he shall reach in the 
world to come. While a man is stringing a harp, he 
tries the strings, not for music, but for construction. 
When it is finished it shall be played for melodies. God 
is fashioning the heart of every true Soldier of the Cross 
for future joy. He only sounds a string here and there 
to see how far His w^ork has progressed. "Behold, 
happy is the man whom God correcteth : therefore des- 
pise not thou the chastening of the Almighty : for he 
maketh sore and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his 
hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six trou- 
bles : yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee." Job 



THE WARFAEE. 78 

V. 17-19 ; Psalm xxxiv. T-19. " Though He cause grief, 
yet will he have compassion according to the multitude 
of his mercies ; for he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve 
the children of men." Lam. iii. 32, 33 ; Psalm evil. IT. 
"Though He slay me," says Job, "yet will I trust in 
him." 

The Christian must be perfected through conflicts and 
trials. St. Paul, speaking of his conflicts and trials, 
warns the brethren to hold fast their faith, and not to be 
moved by them, saying, " For yourselves know that we 
are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with 
you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation ; 
even as it came to pass, and ye know. For this cause 
when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your 
faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, 
and our labor be in vain. But when Timotheus came 
from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your 
faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance 
of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also 
to see you : therefore, brethren, we were comforted 
over you in all our afflictions and distress by your faith : 
for now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. For what 
thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the 
joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before God; night 
and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, 
and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith ? " 

It is no triumph of faith to trust God for those good 
things which he gives in hand — this is rather to walk by 
sense than by faith ; but to rely on him in the greatest 
7 



74 THE WAKFAKE. 

destitution, " and against hope to believe in hope," this 
is the faith of a true child of Abraham, and will be "im- 
puted" to us — as to him — "for righteousness." Rom. iv. 
22; Heb. xi. 8-19. " It is," says Bunyan, " as ordinary 
as for the light to shine, for God to make black and dis- 
mal dispensations to usher in bright and pleasing ones ; 
yea, and the more frightful that is which goes before, the 
more comfortable is that which follows after. ' Weeping 
may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' " 
Those whom God adopts, he teaches and trains. He 
leads them to Sinai, and shows them the Law, that their 
hearts may be broken. He leads them to Calvary and 
shows them the Cross, that their hearts may be cleansed, 
bound up, and healed. Isaiah i. 5, 6 ; Ezek. xvi. 4-9 ; 
Rev. iii. 18, 19. He leads them to Pisgah, and gives 
them distant views of the promised land, that their 
hearts may be cheered. He takes them into the wilder- 
ness, that they may see their own emptiness. He car- 
ries them to Tabor, and gives them glimpses of the glory 
to come. 

Oft I walk beneath the cloud, 
Dark as midnight's gloomy shroud ; 
But when fear is at the height, 
Jesus comes, and all is light: 
Blessed Jesus, bid me show 
Doubting saints how much I owe. 

God by chastisement, lays his finger upon the con- 
science and forthwith it starts into new life. " If they 
be in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction, then 



THE WARFARE. 75 

He showeth them their work, and their transgressions 
that they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear 
to discipline, and commandeth that they return from 
iniquity." Job xxxvi. 8-10. The desert-trials of the 
Israelites put them to the proof; and when proved, what 
iniquity was found in them ! what sin came out that had 
lain hidden and unknown before ! Then the heart's 
deep fountains were broken up, and streams of pollution 
came rushing out, black as " the Pit" itself. Rebellion, 
unbelief, fretfulness, murmurings, atheism, idolatry, self- 
will, self-confidence, self-pleasing, — all burst out when 
the blast of the desert met them in the face. They had 
not yet learned the blessedness of faith in God. The 
Psalmist, speaking of their provocations, says, " Our 
fathers understood not Thy wonders in Egypt ; they re- 
membered not the multitude of thy mercies ; but pro- 
voked Him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Neverthe- 
less he saved them for his name's sake, that he might 
make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the 
Red Sea also, and it was dried up ; so he led them 
through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he 
saved them from the hand of them that hated them, and 
redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the 
waters covered their enemies : there was not one of them 
left. Then believed they His words; they sung his 
praise. They soon forgot his works, they waited not for 
nis counsel : but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, 
and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them 
their request; but sent leanness into their soul." 



76 THE WARFARE. 

There cannot be a more certain presage of future 
misery than to counteract the afflictive dispensations of 
God. Then he turns his rod into a scorpion, and fulfils 
the threatenings, " If ye will not be reformed by Me, 
then will I walk contrary unto you, and will punish you 
yet seven times for your sins." The first blow is gentle, 
it affects the man's property only ; if he remain unim- 
pressed and unhumbled, God then enters his house and be- 
reaves him of a darling child — perhaps a second — a third; 
he next smites his wife, and she is made to waste away 
before him by slow and consuming disease ; he then 
visits him with some severe bodily affliction : he is laid 
upon a bed of pain and languishing ; he is made to feel 
in solitude the extent of his bereavements, and time is 
given him for reflection ; after this He stripes his con- 
science, — his heart is filled with bitterness; he has a 
wounded spirit that he cannot bear; his life becomes 
burdensome ; he is afraid to die, and sickens at the 
thought of existence. If in all this he turns not unto 
God, with weeping and mourning, but sins yet more and 
more, then he casts him into hell. Pro v. xxix. 1 ; Psalm 
ix. lY ; xi. 6 ; Ixxiii. 5-20. '' Thou hast forsaken me, 
saith the Lord, thou art gone backward : therefore will I 
stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I 
am weary with repenting." 

It is said of Jehoram, king of Israel, that the Lord 
smote his people, his children, his wives, and his goods. 
"And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels 
with an incurable disease. And it came to pass, that in 



THE WAKFARE. 77 

process of time, after the end of two years, his bowels 
fell out by reason of his sickness : so he died of sore dis- 
ease." 2 Kings xxi. 14-19. And all this befell him, 
because he had, like Ahab, Jezebel, Ahaziah, and Atha- 
lia, "sold himself to work evil in the sight of the Lord." 
Take the disciples of Christ for an example of suffering 
and patience. "Giving no offence in anything," says St. 
Paul, " that the ministry be not blamed ; but in all things 
approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much 
patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distress, in 
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in w^atch- 
ings, in fastings ; by pureness, by knowledge, by long- 
suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love un- 
feigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by 
the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on 
the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good 
report : as deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, and yet 
well known ; as dying, and, behold, we live ; as chas- 
tened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; 
as poor, yet making many rich ; as having nothing, yet 
possessing all things." 2 Cor. vi. 3-10; Jer. ix. 23, 24; 
Rev. xxi. Y. "Even to this hour we both hunger and 
thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no cer- 
tain dwelling-place ; and labor, working with our own 
hands. Being reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, we 
suffer it ; being defamed, we entreat : we are made the 
filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things 
unto this day." 1 Cor. iv. 11-13 ; John xv. 17-25. " Of 
the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one ; 



78 THE WARFARE. 

thrice was I beaten with rods ; once was I stoned ; thrice 
I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day have I been in 
the deep ; in journeyings often ; in perils of waters ; in 
perils of robbers ; in perils of my own countrymen ; in 
perils by the heathen ; in perils in the city; in perils in 
the wilderness ; in perils in the sea ; in perils among 
false brethren ; in weariness and painfulness ; in watch- 
ings often ; in hunger and thirst, in fastings often ; in 
cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are with- 
out, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the 
Churches." "In Damascus the Governor, under Aretas, 
the king, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garri- 
son, desirous to apprehend me : and through a window, 
in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his 
hands." 

In another place, he says, "Nay, in all these things 
we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. 
For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, 
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from the Love of 
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Speaking of 
the sufferings of his brethren in Christ, he says, " Others 
were tortured, not accepting deliverance ; that they 
might obtain a better resurrection ; and others had trial 
of cruel mockings, and scourgings; yea, moreover of 
bonds and imprisonment : they were sawn asunder, they 
were stoned, were tempted, were slain with the sword ; 
they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins; 



THE WARFARE. 79 

being destitute, afflicted, tormented ; of whom the world 
was not worthy; they wandered in deserts, and in 
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Heb. 
xi. 35-38. " Let me go, for the day breaketh," was the 
language of their hearts. They shouted the praises of 
God on the rack, and sung Psalms and Hymns in the 
flames. The secret kept from "the world" no longer 
remained a secret to them. Their faith, like that of 
Stephen, faded into sight, and the bright forms of minis- 
tering hosts became visible. 

St. Paul himself, as he approached the martyring axe, 
exclaimed, " I am now ready to be offered, and the time 
of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. 
I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that 
day.^'* 

Surely if the most precious and lovely of God's child- 
ren have suffered all this, is not that a sufficient proof 

* St. Paul was beheaded by Nero, in his anger at the conver- 
sion of his favorite cup-bearer. Peter was crucified by the same 
tyrant. Andrew was crucified at Achia. James was beheaded 
by Herod Agrippa. Philip suflFered martyrdom in Phrygia. 
Bartholomew suffered martyrdom in Armenia. Thomas, called 
Didymus, was put to death by stoning, in India. Matthew suf- 
fered martyrdom in Ethiopia. James and Simon Zelots were 
murdered in Jerusalem. Jude was put to death by the Magi, in 
Persia. Mai-k died of his wounds at Alexandria, in Egypt. Luke 
was hanged on a tree, in Greece. John, after being preserved 
unhurt, by a miracle, in a caldron of boiling oil, appears to have 
been the only one of the disciples who died a natural death, at an 
advanced age. 



80 THE WARFARE. 

that this world is not a place of happiness, nor earthly 
prosperity the reward of virtue. Shall we, after reading 
these passages of Scripture, complain of our petty trials ? 
Shall we not rather be thankful that our aflQictions are so 
light ? 

Oh for that flame of living fire, 

Which shone so bright in saints of old; 
Which bade their souls to heaven aspire, — 
Calm in distress, in danger bold. 

Where is that Spirit, Lord, which dwelt 

In Abraham's breast, and seal'd him thine ? 

Which made Paul's heart w^ith pleasure melt, 
And glow with energy divine ? 

That Spirit, which from age to age 

Proclaim' d thy love, and taught thy ways ? 

Brighten' d Isaiah's vivid page, 
And breathed in David's hallow'd lays? 

Is not thy grace as mighty now 

As when Elijah felt its power; 
When glory beamed from Moses' brow, 

Or Job endured the trying hour ? 

Were the Christian's earthly course strewed with 
flowers, and sunbeams ever played around his dwelling, 
it would lead him to forget his wandering life, — that he 
is but a sojourner here. The tent must at times be struck, 
pin by pin of the movable tabernacle taken down, to 
enable him to say and feel in the spirit of a pilgrim, "I 
desire a better country." In that "country" the re- 
deemed sons and daughters of God will praise him for 
ever for their sorrows : so blessed shall they appear to 
them, that they shall wonder how they could ever weep 
and sigh. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BATTLES FOUGHT AND VICTORIES WON. 

The aged Soldier of the Cross— The smile upon his wasted cheek— 
His prospects of eternal happiness clear and glorious— The wilderness 
passed— His Father's house in full view— Happy deaths— The glories of 
Immanuel's land— Unspeakable happiness of the children of God- 
Transporting views of the heavenly world— The ministry of Angels- 
Delightful death-bed scenes— Happy death of a Sunday-school scholar— 
His last words to his parents and sister— His " farewell" to each— Sees 
his Saviour— Angels around his bed— Hears delightful music— Longs to 
die— Looks up to Heaven, smiles, and expires in his father's arms. 

Blessed is the man whose love to Jesus hath become 
confirmed with his years, so that his " heart is fixed," and 
fired, and flaming. He with his grey hairs and venera- 
ble countenance commands the attention of all men when 
he speaks of Him whom he hath tried and proved 
through more than half a century of tribulation mingled 
with rejoicing. His piety renders him a most delightful 
companion ; his familiar acquaintance with the Word of 
God has furnished his mind with the most sublime sen- 
timents, such as Socrates would have listened to with 
silent admiration, and Plato have heard with rapturous 
joy. He sees the shadows of the evening drawing on 
with " hopes full of immortality ;" and his silver locks 
remind him to pass his remaining days as a pilgrim with 

(81) 



82 BATTLES FOUGHT 

his staff in his hand, ready to depart. " For these many 
years," to use his own language, " I have not promised 
myself a to-morrow." He does not fear death, because 
he knows his Saviour has taken away its sting. 1 Cor. 
XV. 55-5Y ; 2 Cor. v. 1-9 ; Hosea xiii. 14. And oh what 
happiness beyond 1 Isaiah Ixiv. 4 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9 ; x. 3, 21- 
23 ; Rev. xxi. 4-t. 

Mark but that radiance of his eye, 

That smile upon his wasted cheek ; 
They tell us of his glory nigh, 

In language that no tongue can speak. 

We cannot look upon such a man without feeling the 
exceeding beauty of the expression of Solomon about 
the hoary head found in the way of righteousness, being 
a "crown of glory." His prospects are clear and glori- 
ous beyond conception. The dawn of heaven is in his 
heart. The wearisome, dull, "Enchanted Ground" of 
the earthly pilgrimage is now passed. The darkness 
and fear of death are left behind. " Despair and Doubt" 
are not so much as seen from this happy region. Shining 
ones, unseen by all except the dying saint, are hovering 
around. He has reached the last stage of a journey 
which tends to his "Father's house." He has passed 
the wilderness, and now stands on Jordan's bank, ready 
to enter the promised land when the waters of the cold 
stream shall be divided. Through the crevices which 
time and affliction have made in his earthly tabernacle, 
the soul looks out upon its eternal mansions, and ex- 
claims, 



AND VICTOKIES WON. Oo 

There is my house and portion fair; 
My treasure and my heart are there. 

Such a man could say with Hugh Mackail, when on 
the scaffold at Edinburgh, in 1666, "Farewell, father 
and mother, friends and relations ; farewell, sun, moon 
and stars. Welcome, God and Father ; welcome, sweet 
Lord Jesus ; welcome, blessed Spirit of grace and God of 
all consolation ; welcome, glory ; welcome, eternal life ; 
welcome death. Lord, into thy hands I commit my 
spirit, for thou hast redeemed my soul, Lord, God of 
truth." He could say with Baxter, '' I bless God I have 
a well-grounded assurance of eternal happiness, and 
great peace within." He could say with John Janeway, 
" 0, my dear friends, that I could let you know what 
happiness I enjoy ! that I could express the thousandth 
part of that sweetness that I now find in Jesus!" He 
could say with Samuel Rutherford, "0 that my brethren 
did know what peace I have this day ! I shall sleep in 
Christ, and when I awake, I shall be satisfied with his 
likeness. Oh ! for arms to embrace Him ! Oh ! for a 
well-tuned harp !" He could say with John Wesley, 
" The best of all is, God is with us." 

Samuel Rutherford was a Scotch divine, who suffered 
during the religious persecution in Scotland, but main- 
tained his strong integrity of character and deep-toned 
piety to the last, and died full of love to God and his 
people. His last words were, " Glory, glory dwelleth in 
Immanuel's land." The following lines are made up 
mostly of expressions of his own : — 



84 BATTLES FOUGHT 

The sands of time are sinking, 

The dawn of heaven breaks, 
The summer morn I've sighed for — 

The fair, sweet morn — awakes. 
Dark, dark hath been the midnight, 

But dayspring is at hand ; 
And glory, glory dwelleth 

In Immanuel's land. 

Oh ! well it is for ever — 

Oh ! well for evermore : 
My nest hung in no forest 

Of all this death-doomed shore ; 
Yea, let this vain world vanish, 

As from the ship the strand, 
While glory, glory dwelleth 

In Immanuel's land. 

There the red rose of Sharon 
Unfolds its heartmost bloom, 
And fills the air of heaven 
With ravishing perfume : 
Oh ! to behold it blossom, 
- While by its fragrance fanned, 
Where glory, glory dwelleth 
In Immanuel's land. 

The King there in his beauty, 

Without a vail is seen ; 
"It were a well-spent journey. 

Though seven deaths lay between." 
The lamb with his fair army 

Doth on Mount Zion stand. 
And glory, glory dwelleth 

In Immanuel's land ! 

Oh, Christ — he is the fountain. 
The deep, sweet well of love ! 

The streams on earth I've tasted, 
More deep I'll drink above ; 



AND VICTORIES WON. 85 

There to an ocean fulness 

His mercy doth expand, 
And glory, glory dwelleth 

In Immanuel's land. 

Oft in yon sea-beat prison,* 

My Lord and I held tryst; 
For Anworthf was not heaven. 

And preaching was not Christ. 
And aye my murkiest storm-cloud 

Was by a rainbow spanned, 
Caught from the glory dwelling 

In Immanuel's land. 

But that he built a heaven 
Of his surpassing love — 
A little New Jerusalem, 
Like to the one above — 
♦'Lord, take me o'er the water," 

Had been my loud demand ; 
•♦ Take me to love's own country, 
Unto Immanuel's land !" 

But flowers need night's cool darkness, 

The moonlight and the dew ; 
So Christ, from one who loved it, 

His shining oft withdrew. 
And then for cause of absence 

My troubled soul I scanned; 
But glory shadeless shineth 

In Immanuel's land. 

The little birds of Anworth — 

I used to count them blest; 
Now beside happier altars 

I go to build my nest: 
O'er these there broods no silence ; 

No graves around them stand ; 
For glory deathless dwelleth 

In Immanuel's land. 

* At St. Andrew's. f His pariflh. 



8G BATTLES FOUGHT | 

i 

Fair Anworth by the Solway, 'j 

To me thou still art dear: i 

E'en from the verge of heaven 1 

I drop for thee a tear. ' 
Oh ! if one soul from Anworth 

Meet me at God's right hand, 
My heaven will be two heavens, 

In Immanuel's land. 1 

I've wrestled on toward heaven, 

'Gainst storm, and wind, and tide; i 

Now, like a weary traveller, 1 

That leaneth on his Guide, ' 
Amid the shades of evening. 

While sinks life's lingering sands, \ 

I hail the glory dawning I 

In Immanuel's land. i 

,1 

Deep waters crossed life's pathway, t 

The hedge of thorns was sharp ; > 

Now these lie all behind me : i 

"Oh! for a well-tuned harp!" , 

Oh ! to join Hallelujah ; 

With yon triumphant band, ' ■ 

Who sing where glory dwelleth, ; 

In Immanuel's land. ] 

With mercy and with judgment 

My web of time he wove. 
And aye the dews of sorrow 

Were lustred in his love. j 

I'll bless the hand that guided, ! 

I'll bless the heart that planned, ' 

When throned where glory dwelleth, ^ 

In Immanuel's land. 1 

Soon shall the cup of glory I 

Wash down earth's bitterest woes; i 

Soon shall the desert brier 

Break into Eden's rose : i 



AND VICTOKIES WON. 87 

The curse shall change to blessing, 
The name on earth that's banned 

Be graven on the White stone, 
In Immanuel's land. 

Oh! I am my Beloved's, 

And my Beloved is mine ! 
He brings a poor, vile sinner 

Into his house of wine.* 
I stand upon his merit; 

I know no safer stand, 
Not even where glory dwelleth, 

In Immanuel's land. 

I shall sleep sound in Jesus, 

Filled with his likeness rise, 
To love and to adore him, 

To see him with these eyes ; 
'Tween me and resurrection 

But Paradise doth stand, 
Then — then for glory, dwelling 

In Immanuel's land. 

The bride eyes not her garment, 

But her dear Bridegroom's face: 
I will not gaze at glory. 

But at my King of grace ; 
Not at the crown he giveth, 

But on his pierced hands ; 
The Lamb is all the glory 

Of Immanuel's land. 

I have borne scorn and hatred, 

I have borne wrong and shame, 
Earth's proud ones have reproached me 

For Christ's thrice blessed name. 
Where God's seals set fairest, 

They've stamped their foulest brand ; 
But judgment shines like noon-day 

In Immanuel's land. 

* See Cant. ii. 1-4; v. 1, 2; Matt. xxvi. 26-2S ; Eph. iii. 13-19; and Rev. iii. 20: 
xxi. 4. 



88 BATTLES FOUGHT 

They've summoned me before them, 

But there I may not come ; 
My Lord says, " Come up hither ;" 

My Lord says, "Welcome home;*' 
My kingly King at his white throne 

My presence doth command, 
Where glory, glory dwelleth 

In Immanuel's land. 

what happiness to be a child of God ! He has 
meat and drink which the world knoweth not of. Weep 
not for those who have departed to be with Christ. It 
is with them ''far better." They sleep in Jesus. Isaiah 
Ivii. 1, 2; Rev. xiv. 1.3. Seek not "the living among 
the dead." Think rather that the last sigh was scarcely 
over on earth, when the song of triumph was begun in 
heaven. 1 Thes. iv. 15 ; John v. 25. hear that sweet 
voice, coming down in heaven's delightful music, saying, 
" If ye loved Me ye would rejoice because I said, I go 
unto the Father." 

The martyrs rejoiced in their last moments. Heaven 
seemed to be opened to them, and such was their view 
of the heavenly world, that they even triumphed amid 
the agonies of death. They suffered everything that 
human malice could inflict, but they suffered patiently, 
and died triumphantly. They shouted the praises of 
God in their last moments ; they were happy in the 
flames. This has encouraged and animated the saints 
of God in every age of the world, many of whom have 
been permitted to behold their heavenly inheritance, 
oven before the spirit had left the body. James Bain- 
ham, when his arms and legs were half consumed, ex- 



AND VICTORIES WON. 8^ 

claimed : " Ye look for miracles I Here now, ye may see 
one. This fire is a bed of roses to me ! " James Hawkes, 
another Christian martyr, was entreated by his friends 
to give them some token that the fire was not so intole- 
rable but that a Christian might keep his mind quiet and 
patient — he assented ; and, if so, he promised he would 
lift his hands above his head before he died. An eye- 
witness states that " at the stake he mildly addressed 
himself to the flames, and when his speech was taken 
away, and his fingers consumed, so that all thought him 
dead, he, in remembrance of his promise, suddenly lifted 
up his burning hands and clapped them together three 
times, as if in great joy!" 

The venerable Samuel Walker, when near death, 
uttered the following rapturous expressions : " I have 
been upon the wings of the Cherubim ; heaven has, in a 
manner, been opened to me ; I shall soon be there, and 
am only sorry that I cannot take you with me. 0, my 
friends, had I strength, I would tell you such news as 
would rejoice your souls ; I have such views of heaven ! " 
Augustus M. Toplady exclaimed, in his last moments, 
" how this soul of mine longs to be gone ; like a bird 
imprisoned in a cage, longs to take its flight ! what a 
day of sunshine this has been to me ! I have not words 
to express it ; it is unutterable ! " Dr. Doddridge, when 
near death, said : " Such delightful and transporting 
views of the heavenly world as my Father is now in- 
dulging me with, no words can express." Dr. Bateman, 
a Christian Physician, said a little before he died: "I 
8* 



90 BATTLES FOUGHT 

can hardly distinguish whether this is langour or drowsi- 
ness which has come over me ; but it is a very agreeable 
feeling ; " and, dying, he exclaimed, " What glory ! the 
angels are waiting for me 1 Lord Jesus, receive my 
soul! — farewell!" 

The ministry of angels is not a dream of the imagina- 
tion. (See Heb. i. 14 ; and 1 .Cor. iv. 9.) No, it unfolds 
itself in beautiful reality, in scenes acted, throughout the 
Sacred Yolume. Look at Elijah, faint and weary in the 
desert. His prayer is uttered, " Take now away my life, 
Lord;" and he sinks heavily oppressed with grief, 
to sleep. Saw you that touch, so light, so gentle, that 
awoke his slumber? It was an angel. That angel's 
visit gives him strength, and he pursues his journey. 
Again it is night. The shepherds are in the fields, 
watching their flocks. The angel of the Lord descends. 
Yea, a multitude of angels proclaim, in one great shout 
of praise, the birth of Jesus, " Fear not ; behold we bring 
good tidings of great joy to you and to all people ; for 
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." Then that mighty chorus, 
unheard of b}^ men since the fall in Eden, rang through 
the arches of Heaven, and sounded abroad over the wil- 
derness of Judea, '' Glory to God in the highest, on earth 
peace ; good- will to men ; " and ever since salvation has 
been preached through the blood of a crucified Saviour, 
and ever since wherever and whenever the Gospel has 
triumphed, there has been "joy in heaven." 

The pious John Holland, an old Puritan minister, 



AND VICTORIES WON. 91 

while listening in his dying hours to the reading of the 
8th Chapter of Romans, cried out, " Oh, stay your read- 
ing! What brightness is that I see? On being told it 
was the sunshine, he exclaimed, "Sunshine! Nay, it is 
my Saviour's shine I Farewell, world! Welcome, hea- 
ven ! The Day-star from on high bath visited my heart. 
Oh; speak it when I am gone and preach it at my funeral, 
— God dealeth familiarly with those who love him. I feel 
His mercy; I see His majesty; whether in the body or 
out of the body, I cannot tell, God knoweth; but I see 
things that are unutterable." Well might such a man 
exclaim, 

What music ! what light ! 
What wonders break in on my heart, on my sight! 
I come, blessed spirits! I hear you on high. 
0, frail, faithless nature ! can this be to die ? 
So near ! what, so near to my Saviour and King ? 
0, help me, ye angels, his glories to sing. 

The much lamented EdAvard Payson, D.D., died 
rejoicing in hope. He said, " The battle is fought! and 
the victory won ! I am going to bathe in an ocean of 
purity and benevolence and happiness, to all eternity I 
The celestial city is full in view ! Its glories beam upon 
me, its breezes fan me, its odors are wafted to me, its 
music strikes upon my ear, and its spirit breathes into 
my heart ! Nothing separates me from it but the river 
of death, which now appears as a narrow rill, which may 
be crossed at a single step, whenever God shall give per- 
mission." When racked with pain, and near death, he 
exclaimed, "Oh, what a blessed thing it is to lose one's 



92 BATTLES FOUGHT 

will ! Since I have lost my will I have found true hap- 
piness. There can be no such thing as disappointment 
to me, for I have no desire but that God's will may be 
accomplished." Again, "When I read Banyan's descrip- 
tion of the land of Beulah, where the sun shines and the 
birds sing day and night, I used to doubt whether there 
was such a place ; but now my own experience has con- 
vinced me of it, and it infinitely transcends all my pre- 
vious conceptions. I think the happiness I enjoy is simi- 
lar to that enjoyed by glorified spirits before the resur- 
rection. I can find no words to express my happiness." 

John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, left the world ex- 
claiming, " what happiness ! what unspeakable glories 
do I see ! how I long to die, and be with my Saviour !" 
The Rev. "William Grimshaw had glorious views of 
heaven just before he departed. He said, "I am as 
happy as I can be on earth, and as sure of glory as if I 
was in it. I have nothing to do but to step out of bed 
into heaven ; I have my foot upon the threshold already." 
Another dying Christian exclaimed, '' My soul longs, my 
spirit pants, to see the God I love. is it possible that 
the One I love can come so near, can restore me to him- 
self, and bring back again the blissful days of Eden to 
my soul ? Oh ! what glory ! — blessed Saviour, I come !" 

Coxe, in his life of Fletcher, says, that a few days 
before his dissolution, he appeared to have reached that 
desirable point, where the last rapturous discoveries are 
made to the souls of the dying saints. Roused, as it 
were, with the shouts of angels, and kindled into rap- 



AND VICTOEIES WON". 98 

ture with visions of glory, he broke forth into a song of 
holy triumph, which began and ended with praises of 
God's unfathomable love. He labored to declare the 
secret manifestations he enjoyed ; but his sensations 
were too powerful for utterance ; and after looking un- 
utterable things, he contented himself with calling upon 
all around him to celebrate that adorable love which can 
never be adequately expressed. Jer. xxxi. 3 ; Isaiah Ixiii. 
9 ; Zeph. iii. It ; Eph. iii. 18, 19. This triumphant state 
of mind was not a transient feeling, but a state that he 
continued to enjoy, with little or no discernible inter- 
ruption, to the moment of his departure. While he 
possessed the power of speech, he spoke as one whose 
lips had been touched with alive coal from the altar; 
and, when deprived of that power, his countenance dis- 
covered that he was secretly engaged in contemplation 
of the joys of heaven. 

The deeply pious and devoted John Janeway, when 
near his journey's end, said : " I am, through mercy, 
quite above the fears of death, and am going unto Him 
whom I love above life. that I could let you know 
what I now feel 1 that I could show what I see ! 
the glory, the unspeakable glory that I now behold ! My 
heart is full, my heart is full, my heart is full ; Christ 
smiles, and I cannot choose but smile. Can you find it 
in your hearts to stop me, who am now going to the 
complete and eternal enjoyment of my Redeemer? 
Would you keep me from my crown ? The arms of my 
blessed Saviour are open to embrace me ; the angels 



94 BATTLES FOUGHT 

stand ready to cany my soul into his bosom ! did you 
but see what I see, you would all cry out with me, 
* How long, dear Lord ? Come, Lord Jesus, come 
quickly I'" Remarkable also was the closing scene and 
the last words of Mr. Halyburton. After expressing, in 
the intensity of joyful desire, his willingness to depart, 
he exclaimed in rapture, *' This is a miracle, without 
pain ! And this not the fancy of a man disordered in 
his brain, but of one lying in full composure ! Oh, 
blessed be God that ever I was born ! I have a father, 
and a mother, and ten brothers and sisters in heaven ; 
and I shall be the eleventh. Oh, blessed be the day 
that ever I was born!" When he drew still nearer to 
death, he said to those around him, " When I fall so low 
that I am not able to speak, I will show you a sign of 
triumph, when I am near glory, if I am able." This he 
did, by lifting and clapping his hands in the most 
triumphant joy, when he was speechless and in the 
agonies of death ! When John Knox, the English Re- 
former, was asked, after he could speak no more, if he 
remembered the promises of God, he raised his hand, 
shouted " Glory to God!" and expired. 

These feelings of earnest expectation and ardent de- 
sire, are tempered in the believing soul by the most per- 
fect resignation to the divine will : while in the language 
of one inspired writer he prays that he " may go over to 
see the good land ;" in the words of another he submis- 
sively adds, "All the days of my appointed time will I 
wait till my change come." His "heart is fixed;" his 



AND VICTORIES WON". 95 

soul is kindled into rapture with love to his Saviour ; 
and in the fulness of his joy — ''joy unspeakable and 
full of glory," he exclaims, in the words of the Psalmist, 
"Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none 
upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my 
heart faileth : but God is the strength of my heart and 
my portion for ever." 

" How is it," says the Rev. Dr. Berg, " that the wicked 
man in his death, has no sound of heavenly melody 
charming his ears, and no sight of holy angels, hovering 
around his pillow ? Why is it, that instead of these, 
images of terror float before his glaring eyes and fill his 
soul with horror and dismay ? Is it not because when 
men are dying the curtain of the body is gradually lifted 
up, and the soul hitherto not cognizant of the presence of 
attending spirits, looks out into the eternal world, and 
stamps an impress of its realities upon the fading senses ?" 
(See Eccles. v. 6 ; x. 20 ; Isaiah xxv. 1 ; and 2 Kings 
vi. 12.) ''And when the spirit is poised upon the con- 
fines of the two worlds, and its heaven or its hell is 
already begun, why need we wonder that the righteous 
man hath hope and glory in his death, whilst the wicked 
man trembles in overwhelming terror and despair?" 
Eph. ii. 2 ; 2 Tim. ii. 26 ; John viii. 44 ; Matt. xxv. 41-46 ; 
Rev. xxi. 8. Ah, yes ; the wicked, alas for him at that 
awful moment I Oh ! my soul, come not thou into the 
secret of his sorrows ! 

In that dread moment, how the frantic soul 
Raves round the walls of her clay tenement; 
Runs to each avenue, and shrieks for help ; 



96 BATTLES FOUGHT 

But shrieks in vain! IIow wishfully she looks 
On all she's leaving, now no longer hers ! 
A little longer ; yet a little longer ; 
! might she stay to wash away her stains ; 
And fit her for her passage ! Mournful sight I 
Her very eyes weep blood ; and ev'ry groan 
She heaves is big with horror. But the foe, 
Like a staunch murd'rer, steady to his purpose, 
Pursues her close, through ev'ry lane of life ; 
Nor misses once the track ; but presses on, 
Till forced at last to the tremendous verge. 
At once she sinks to everlasting ruin! 

We are indebted to an esteemed Christian friend for 
the following particulars of the death of a Sunday-school 
scholar, and member of one of the Evangelical Churches 
of a town in a neighboring State. The youth whose 
happy death is here referred to, was at the time of his 
departure for his heavenly home, fourteen years, three 
months and six days of age : 

A more exemplary life or happier experience in death 
than that of the dear youth so early called to the tomb, 
has never been met with in one so young. Though but 
a short time resident among us, his amiable disposition 
had endeared him to the hearts of many who witnessed 
the patience and resignation with which he bore his 
affliction, and who sympathize with the bereaved family 
whose little circle death has again entered. His disease 
(consumption, induced by scarlet fever) was lingering, 
and often accompanied with severe suffering, yet no 
murmur or complaint ever escaped his lips, and he 
seemed to be calmly awaiting his summons to the skies. 
Christian friends who conversed with him invariably 



AND VICTORIES WON. 97 

found him in the happiest state of mind ; but it was 
when he neared the hour of his departure, that he more 
particularly evinced the delightful influence of piety upon 
the youthful heart. The evening preceding his death, a 
most joyous feeling came over his spirit, which was 
manifested by the dismissal of the natural timidity which 
usually made him appear quiet and reserved, and he 
conversed freely with a number of Christian friends ; 
and so sweetly did he speak of his present happy con- 
dition, and the joys of that immortal state he should so 
soon enter, that those who stood by his dying-bed felt 
indeed that it was heaven's gate. Later in the night, he 
called his father to his bedside, and after speaking in re- 
gard to the removal of his remains to his favorite place 
of burial, he said, 

" My dear father, don't shed any more tears for me. 
Mine is a case that calls for rejoicing. I am going to 
my beloved Saviour and my dear brothers." Here his 
father held up the photographs of his brothers, Alfred 
and Thomas, before him, and told him he would soon be 
with them in heaven, to part no more. He seemed 
pleased, and said, " My dear father, put my arms around 
your neck." ******* ^^i^ then added, " God 
of love, bless my dear father, who has prayed for me, 
and with me, and given me such good counsel all my 
life ; forsake him not nor leave him, but stand by him in 
all his trials, in every affliction, in every temptation." 
Here he became exhausted, but soon rallied, and said, 
" My dear father, when tempted, pray for more grace ; 
9 



98 BATTLES FOUGHT 

and when anything goes wrong, don't fret or scold, but 
look to Jesus." Here he again kissed his father; and 
then stretching out his emaciated hands, his countenance 
beaming with joy, and his eyes fixed on some heavenly 
scene, he exclaimed, " Glory ! — praise Him !" He was 
unable to say more, but after an interval of a few 
minutes, added, " I hear heavenly music ! 0, I see 
angels! — they are waiting for me! All fear of death 
has vanished ! Mother, did you hear that ? — my Saviour 
called me ! — raise me up ! raise me up ! Keep thy pre- 
sence. Lord." 

Here he called upon his parents and sister, Mary 
Elizabeth, to look at the beautiful angels around his bed, 
and to listen to their sweet music. He then affection- 
ately addressed his Mother, and afterward his sister, 
counseling her to avoid the company of wicked children, 
and always to be obedient to her parents, and asking to 
be left alone, (there being several Christian friends in 
the room,) he offered a most touching and eloquent 
prayer for her preservation from evil, and that she might 
become " a bright and shining light in the Church of 
Christ," and that they might " meet in heaven." Upon 
being asked if he had any fears of death, he replied, 
"No; all is peace, — I am prepared to go." Here he 
began to sink, but prayed for strength to enable him to 
speak to his parents, sister, and friends, and soon rallied, 
and said, "0 praise the Lord! — 0, my Saviour! 0, I 
am so happy!" Here he was exceedingly happy in 
Christ. Indeed, his heart seemed to be overflowing 



AXD VICTORIES WON. 99 

with love to God, and to all around him ; and in this 
state of mind he continued to the last moment of his 
life. At six o'clock on Friday evening, January 6, 1860, 
(and only a few seconds before his departure for his 

heavenly home,) he said, " Mother, my dear mo ," 

and then reclining in his father's arms, and fixing his 
eyes on the ceiling of the room, his features beaming 
with happiness, he gently breathed his last, and Clinton's 
spirit flew to meet his Saviour's embrace, and join his 
little brothers in the happy land. 

A week before Clinton's departure, he requested to be 
left alone with his sister — then in the twelfth year of 
her age, when he spoke to her in these words : " My 
dear sister, the doctor says I cannot live two days, and 
I wish to say a few words to you before I die. My dear 
sister, give your heart to God in your early days. Your 
brother will soon be at home, and you won't have any 
brother to talk to or play with any more. I*^ow, my 
dear sister, if you don't give your heart to God you will 
go to hell, and never see your brothers in heaven. N'ow 
mind what I have told you, or you will be sorry for it 
when you come to die.'' 

The parting scene between Clinton and his parents 
was exceedingly affecting. To his father, he said, 
" Kiss me, my dear father, * * * — farewell, my dear 
father, — don't be discouraged, but be of good cheer; — 
stand up for Jesus, — fight the good fight, and meet me in 
heaven. Your three sons will be waiting your arrival 
on the heavenly shore." To his mother, he said, "Kiss 



100 BATTLES FOUGHT 

me, my dear mother. Oh, my Saviour, bless my dear mo- 
ther ! Oh, my dear mother, I must now leave you I * * * 
— farewell, my dear mother : meet me in heaven." To his 
sister he said, " Kiss me, my dear sister Mary Elizabeth, 
* * * — Q^j^ jjjy Saviour, bless my dear sister, and keep 
her from the evil that is in the world. Forsake her not, 
nor leave her; but grant, O my blessed Lord, that she may 
meet me in heaven, — farewell, my dear sister, — meet me 
in heaven." Here, turning to the wall, he thanked God 
for having strengthened him in this last farewell scene. 

Many deeply interesting articles on religious subjects 
were found among Clinton's papers, all written in his own 
hand. Some of them bore the following titles : — " On 
Prayer;" " On the Family Altar;" ''On Private Prayer;" 
" On the Presence of Grod;" " On Obedience to Parents;" 
" Lines to my Mother," &c. The lines to his mother he 
had arranged to suit his own case, from some printed verses 
in his possession, as follows : — 



CLINTON TO HIS MOTHER. 

CLINTON. 

My mother, my mother ! let me depart ! 

Your tears and your pleadings are swords to my heart. 

I hear gentle voices, that chide my delay ; 

I see lovely visions, that woo me away. 

My prison is broken, my trials are o'er ! 

mother, my mother, detain me no more. 



And will you then leave us, my brightest, my best, 
And will you run nestling no more to my breast ? 



AND VlCTOlllES WON. 101 

The summer is coming to sky and to bower; 
The tree that you planted will soon be in flower ; 
You loved the soft season of song and of bloom ; 
Oh, shall it return and find you in your tomb ? 



Yes, mother, I loved in the sunshine to play. 
And to talk of the birds and the blossoms all day 
But sweeter the songs of the spirits on high, 
And brighter the glories that shine in the sky ! 
I see them, I hear them, they pull at my heart ; 
My mother, my mother, 0, let me depart ! 



Oh, do not desert us ! Our hearts will be drear, 

Our home will be lonely when you are not here. 

Your little sister will sigh 'mid her playthings, and say, 

I wonder dear Clinton so long can delay. 

That foot like the wild wind, that glance like a star, — 

Oh, what would this world be when they are afar ? 



This world, dearest mother ! 0, live not for this ! 
No, press on with me to the fulness of bliss ! 
And, trust me, whatever bright fields I may roam, 
My heart will not wander far from you or from home. 
Believe me still near you on pinions of love ; 
Expect me to hail you when soaring above. 



Well go, my beloved ; the conflict is o'er ; 
My pleas are all selfish, I urge them no more. 
Why chain your bright spirit down here to the clod, 
So thirsting for freedom, so ripe for its God ? 
Farewell, then, farewell, till we meet at the throne : 
There love fears no parting and tears are unknown. 



102 BATTLES FOUGHT AND VICTORIES WON. 



glory ! glory ! what music ! what light ! 
What wonders break in on my heart, on my sight ! 

1 come, blessed spirits ! I hear you from high! 
O frail, faithless nature, can this be to die ? 

So near! what, so near to my Saviour and King! 
0, help me, ye angels, His praises to sing. 

A few moments before he expired, Edmund Auger 
said to a friend, " Do you see that assembly who await 
my arrival ? Do you hear that sweet music with which 
those holy men invite me ?" — " Let me go ! — I must go !" 
"How hard it is to die !" remarked a friend to an ex- 
piring believer. " 0, no, no I" he replied ; " easy dying, 
blessed dying, glorious dying ! 0, I never thought that 
such a poor worm as I could come to such a glorious 
death !" Another dying saint said, " All is well. My sky 
is clear. I am not afraid to die. Hark I — I hear singing! 
how sweet ! how delightful ! — Don't you hear it?" 

Just as the dying saint had uttered these words, he ap- 
peared to be serenaded by invisible musicians with the 
sweetest strains that ever delighted mortal ears. The har- 
monious echo seemed to pass from room to room, till it 
came into his chamber, where, after a short space, it sunk 
away in a gentle cadence. The dear Christian friends that 
were around his dying bed felt that his obsequies were 
now sung. 



CHAPTER T. 



PRAYER. 



Prayer the life-breath of true religion — What God says of prayer — 
What the saints of old did — The prayers of David and Daniel — "What 
prayer did for Joshua, Elijah, Hezekiah, and other men of God — Amazing 
power of faithful prayer — Faith : definitions of it — Wrestling with God 
in prayer — Jacob's prayer — Praying "with strong crying and tears" — 
A djnng father's last prayer for his daughter — Tears — The Lord despises 
all human strength in prayer — The proud praying lions flung aside to rot 
— "When I am weak, then am I strong" — Family worship — Dutiful 
children blessed — A dying father's last gift to his daughter — Its immense 
falue. 

Prayer is the very life-breath of true religion. It is 

one of the first evidences that a man is born again. 

''Behold," said the Lord to Ananias, in the day he sent 

him to Saul, '' Behold, he prayeth." Acts ix. 11. Prayer 

was the distinguishing mark of God's people in the day 

that there began to be a separation between them and 

the world. " Then began men to call upon the name of 

the Lord." Without prayer to God, no soul can be 

spiritually united to him. Prayer is the power God has 

placed in our hands to raise our souls to heaven. It is 

the power we must use in every trouble. Without 

prayer — fervent, heartfelt prayer, there is no salvation. 

" Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver 

thee, and thou shalt glorify me." Psalm 1. 15. '' Who- 

(103) 



104 PRAYER. 

soever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be de- 
livered." Joel ii. 32. "This poor man cried, and the 
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." 
Psalm xxxiv. 6 ; Isaiah Ixvi. 2. And so it will be with 
every praying soul. " Surely I know that it shall be 
well with them that fear God, which fear before him ; 
but it shall not be well with the wicked." Eccles. viii. 
12, 13. "He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall 
save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces 
the oppressor. He shall deliver the needy when he 
crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He 
shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls 
of the needy ;" (that is to say, of the poor and needy 
who pra}^ to him in spirit and in truth, and love him 
with the whole heart ;) "he shall redeem their soul from 
deceit and violence : and precious shall their blood be in 
his sight." Psalm Ixxii. 14; Prov. xxii. 23. "He that 
toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye." 

When a true Soldier of the Cross stretches forth his 
hands to his Father in heaven, in that moment he 
leaves behind him all terrestrial pursuits, and traverses 
on the beams of Jesus' love the realms of light. Eph. 
iii. 18, 19 ; Psalm xxxvi. 9. He who can pray truly, 
though languishing in deepest poverty, is immensely 
rich ; (2 Cor. vi. 9, 10 ; Rev. ii. 9, 10 ;) while the wretch 
who never bowed the knee in prayer to God, though 
proudly seated as mpnarch of nations, is of all men the 
most destitute. Jer. ix, 23, 24; Kev. iii. M, 18. The 
day is coming when such men will say to the moun- 



PKAYER. 105 

tains and rocks, " Fall on us and hide us from the face 
of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath 
of the Lamb." In that fearful day, " The wicked shall 
be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." 
Psalm ix. It; xi. 6; Thess. i. 7-9. In that day the 
Lord will place an impassable barrier " between him that 
serveth God and him that serveth him not." 

Those who are saved, are saved by prayer ; and those 
who are damned, are lost because they would not pray. 
It is useless to say you "have no convenient place to 
pray in." Any person can find a place private enough, 
if he is so disposed. The Lord Jesus prayed on a moun- 
tain ; Peter on the house-top ; Isaac in the field ; Na- 
thaniel under the fig-tree ; Jonah in the whale's belly. 
Daniel had all the affairs of a kingdom on his hands, and 
yet he prayed " three times a day." His prayer on be- 
half of himself and his oppressed and afflicted brethren, 
the children of Israel, is comprehensive and beautiful. 

David was ruler over a mighty nation, and he says, 
" Evening, morning and at noon will I pray." Psalm Iv. 
It ; cxix. 62-t5. " Oh that men would praise the Lord 
for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children 
of men ! for he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the 
hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and 
the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron ; 
because they rebelled against the words of God, and con- 
temned the counsel of the Most Pligh: therefore he 
brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, 
and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the 



106 PRAYEK. 

Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their 
distresses ; he brought them out of darkness and the 
shadow of death, and bralve their bands in sunder." 
Psalm cvii. 8-14. When David himself was in trouble, 
he pra3^ed as follows : — 

" Oh Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night be- 
fore thee ; let my prayer come before thee ; incline thine ear unto 
my cry ; for my soul is full of troubles : and my life draweth 
nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into 
the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength : free among the dead, 
like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no 
more : and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in 
the lowest pit : in darkness: in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard 
upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Thou 
hast put away mine acquaintance far from me ; thou hast made 
me an abomination unto them : I am shut up, and I cannot come 
forth. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: Lord, I have 
.called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. 
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and 
praise thee ? Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? 
or thy faithfulness in destruction ? Shall thy wonders be known 
in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness ? 
But unto thee have I cried, Lord ; in the morning shall my 
prayer prevent thee. Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why 
hidest thou thy face from me ? I am afflicted and ready to die 
from my youth up : while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. 
Thy fierce wrath goeth over me ; thy terrors have cut me off. 
They came round about me daily like water ; they compassed me 
about together. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, 
and mine acquaintance into darkness." Psalm Ixxxviii ; Job xix. 
6-19; Lam. iii. 1-21. 

In another place, speaking of the prosperity of the 
wicked, his soul is so full of the dying love of his blessed 
Lord, that he exclaims in rapture, '* Whom have I in 
heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I 



PRAYER. 107 

desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth ; but 
God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.'' 
Nothing seems to be too great, or too difficult for 
prayer to accomplish. It has obtained things that 
seemed utterly unattainable. It has won victories over 
fire and water. It has even made the sun and moon 
stand still until the enemies of God were destroyed. 
Here is the record : 

" And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp of Gil- 
gal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants ; come up to 
us quickly, and save us and help us : for all the kings of the 
Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together 
against us. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the peo- 
ple of war Avith him, and all the mighty men of valour. And the 
Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not ; for I have delivered them 
into thine hand ; there shall not a man of them stand before thee. 
Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from 
Gilgal all night, and the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and 
slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them 
along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them 
to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass as they 
fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth- 
horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon 
them unto Azekah, and they died ; they were more which died 
w^ith hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with 
the sword. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the 
Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and 
he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, 
and thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, 
and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves 
upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? 
So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go 
down about a whole day." 

Prayer brought fire from the sky to consume Elijah's 
sacrifice : " And it came to pass at the time of the offer- 



108 PRAYER. 

ing of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came 
near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Is- 
rael, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, 
and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these 
things at thy word. Hear me, Lord, hear me, that 
this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and 
that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the 
fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt-sacrifice, 
and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked 
up the water that was in the trench ; and when all the 
people saw it, they fell on their faces : and they said, 
The Lord, he is the God ; the Lord, he is the God. And 
Elijah said unto them. Take the prophets of Baal ; let not 
one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah 
brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them 
there." 

" Take God into thy counsel," says Gurnall, "heaven 
overlooketh hell. God can at any moment see what 
plots are hatching there against thee." Psalm xli. 11; 
Prov. xvi. 1. Prayer turned the counsel of Ahithophel 
into foolishness. Prayer overthrew the army of Senna- 
cherib. Hezekiah's prayer on that occasion is brief, but 
comprehensive : — 

"And Hezekiali prayed before the Lord and said, Lord God 
of Israel, wliich dwelletli between the cherubims, thou art the 
Grod, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast 
made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear and hear: 
open, Lord, thine eyes, and see : and hear the words of Senna- 
cherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a 
truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and 
their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire : for they 



PEAYER. 109 

were no gods, but the woi-k of men's hands, wood and stone: 
therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, Lord our 
God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the 
kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even 
thou only." 

" Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, say- 
ing, Thus saith the Lord of Israel, That which thou hast 
prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I 
have heard. And it came to pass that night, that the 
angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the 
Assyrians an hundred four score and five thousand men." 

Like the leaves of the forest, when summer is green, 
That host with their banners at sunset were seen ; 
Like the leaves of the forest, when autumn is flown, 
That host on the morrow lay withered and strewn. 

For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, — 
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; 
And the breath of the sleepers grew deadly and chill, 
And their hearts but once heaved, and forever were still. 

Prayer saved Asa and his little army, when Zerah, the 

Ethiopian, with a million of men, and three hundred 

chariots, came against them. But Asa's faith in God 

was unwavering, and he put the army in array: — 

"And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is 
nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that 
have no power: help us, Lord our God; for we rest on thee, 
and in thy name we go against this multitude. Lord, thou art 
our God; let no man prevail against thee." 

" So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and 

before Judah ; and the Ethiopians fled, and Asa and the 

people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar ; 

and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not 

10 



110 PRAYER. 

recover themselves ; for they were destroyed before the 
Lord." On another occasion, Samuel the prophet "cried 
unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him," and 
''thundered that day upon the Philistines." 

Prayer healed the sick. We have a remarkable in- 
stance of this in the case of Hezekiah, king of Israel. 
" In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and Isa- 
iah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came unto him, and 
said unto him. Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in 
order : for thou shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah 
turned toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, and 
said, 

*< Remember now, Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked 
before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that 
which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore." 

" Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 
Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God 
of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have 
seen thy tears : behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen 
years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the 
hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city. 
And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that 
the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken ; Behold 
I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is 
gone down in the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. 
So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was 
gone down." 

Prayer raised the dead. We have most heart-cheering 
evidence of this in the cases of the widow's son and the 



PRAYER. Ill 

Shunammite's child. In the case of the widow's son, 
we read, 

" EHjjih cried unto tlie Lord, and said, Lord my God, hast thou 
also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying 
her sou ? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and 
cried unto the Lord, and said, Lord my God. I pray thee let this 
child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice 
of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he 
revived." 

In the case of the Shunammite's son, it is said that 
" when the child was grown, it fell bn a day, that it went 
out to his father to the reapers, and he said unto his 
father. My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry 
him to his mother ; and when he had taken him, and 
brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees until 
noon, and then died, and she went up and laid him on 
the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, 
and went out. And she called unto her husband, and 
said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and 
one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and 
come again, and he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him 
to-day ? it is neither new moon nor Sabbath. And she 
said. It shall be well." " And when Elisha was come 
into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon 
his bed, he went in therefore, and shut the door upon 
them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went 
up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his 
mouth, and Jiis eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon 
his hands : and he stretched himself upon the child ; and 
the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned 



112 PRAYER. 

and walked in the house to and fro ; and went up and 

stretched himself upon him : and the child sneezed seven 

times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called 

Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called 

her. And when she was come unto him, he said, Take 

up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and 

bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and 

went out." 

And he was then her beautiful — her own ; 
Living, and smiling on her, with his arms 
Folded about her neck, and his warm breath 
Breathing upon her lips, and in her ear, 
The music of his gentle voice once more. 

Nothing seems impossible when a man has the spirit 
of adoption. '' Let Me alone," is the remarkable saying 
of the Lord to Moses, when Moses was about to inter- 
cede for the children of Israel. The Chaldee version 
has it, ''Leave off praying." Ex. xxxii. 10. So long as 
Abraham asked mercy for Sodom, the Lord went on 
giving. He never ceased to give till Abraham ceased 
to pray. 

wondrous power of faithful prayer, 

What tongue can tell th' Almighty grace? 

God's hands bound or open are, 
As Moses or Elijah prays: 

Let Moses in the Spirit groan, 

And God cries out — "Let me alone!" 

Let me alone, that all my wrath 

May rise, the wicked to consume ; 
While justice hears thy praying faith. 

It cannot seal the sinner's doom: 
My Son is in my servant's power, 
And Jesus forces me to spare. 



PEAYER. 113 

" Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord 
shall be saved." Rom. x. 13. "Behold, I stand at the 
door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open 
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, 
and he with me ;" " and I will raise him up at the last 
day." Rev. iii. 20 ; John vi. 40. " If any man lack wis- 
dom," says St. James, "let him ask of God, that giveth 
to all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be 
given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 
For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven 
with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think 
that he shall receive anything of the Lord. Elias was a 
man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed 
earnestly that it might not rain : and it rained not on 
the earth for the space of three years and six months. 
And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain, and the 
earth brought forth her fruit." James i. 5-1 ; v. 17, 18; 
1 Kings xviii. 41-46. The church at Jerusalem made 
prayer without ceasing for Peter in prison ; but when 
the prayer .was answered they would hardly believe it. 
Acts xii. 15 ; xvi. 25-34. 

A certain good man's wife was once taken with a 
fatal sickness. He was very poor, and her sickness 
crushed him. He could not pay his rent. His landlord 
procured a writ, and sent a sheriff to seize his goods. It 
was a moment of overwhelming sorrow. His dying wife ^ 
wept bitter tears. His own heart was breaking. What 
could he do ? .His landlord professed religion ; would 

he not relax his grasp and let the woman die in peace ? 

10* 



114 PRAYER. 

No ; his religion was nothing but profession, for he 
turned the pleading husband from his door with words 
of stone. What next ? Hear the poor husband's story. 
He says : " I went to my God. I knew he felt for me." 
(1 Pet. V. t ; Jas. ii. 13.) " I laid the whole affair before 
him with many a speechless tear. " What then ? God an- 
swered that cry by sending a friend to the pleader, who told 

him to tell the state of his affairs to a Mr. . He did 

so, and Mr. replied : " Do not be troubled about it. 

I will help you, and pay your rent too." This poor man 
cried, and the Lord delivered him out of all his trouble. 
Ps. xxxiv. 6; cxlvii. 3; 1 Cor. iii. 21-23; 2 Cor. v. 9, 10. 

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb. xi. 
6 ; Deut. xxxii. 20 ; Habak. ii. 4. " The object," says 
Baillie, " on which faith fixes its eye, is not the heart's 
ever-varying frames, but the never-varying Christ." 
" The soul," says Flavel, " is the life of the body. Faith 
is the life of the soul. Christ is the life of faith." The 
Christian's faith, like the w^orld, should hang on nothing 
but the word of God, and have no other support but 
that; and he himself, like the stars, should float on the 
ether of confidence, needing nothing to uphold him but 
the right hand of the God of Abraham. 

Those who wrestle the hardest in supplication will 
hold the angel the longest. Jacob obtained the blessing, 
but how ? Why, he wrestled till break of day; that is, 
as the prophet explains it in Hosea xii. 14, " he wept and 
made supplication unto Him." He was importunate in 
his request ; could take no denial ; but offered one plea, 



PRAYER. 115 

and then another, until he had power with God, and 
Jesus blessed him there. Gen. xxxii. 24-30. Beautiful 
in its simplicity and earnestness is Jacob's prayer : 

"0 God of my father, Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac, 
the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to 
thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee : I am not worthy of 
the least of all thy mercies and of all thy truth, which thou hast 
showed unto thy servant : for with my staff I passed over this 
Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray 
thee, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come and 
smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I 
will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the 
sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude." 

Jacob wrestled with the Angel of Jehovah's presence. 
He agonized with none other than the incarnate God. 
He laid hold of the strength of the Lord's Anointed, 
that he might be at peace with him. " And He said, let 
me go, for the day breaketh." No — this can never be — 
to let go now is to lose all. Still, though halting and 
weary, he clings to his " Friend" — and cries out, " I will 
not let thee go except thou bless me !" That is the cry 
of faith, importunate, fervent faith, that will take no 
denial. This ended the conflict. "And He said unto 
him, What is thy name ? And he said, Jacob. And He 
said, Thy name shall no more be called Jacob, but 
Israel ; for as a prince hast thou power with God, and 
hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said, Tell me, 
I pray thee, thy name ? And He said, Wherefore is it 
that thou dost ask after my name ? And He blessed him 
there. And Jacob called the name of that place Penuel, 
for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. 



116 PRAYER. 

And as he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, 
and he halted upon his thigh." Gen. xxxii. 14-24. Esau 
is appeased. Instead of lifting his arm in anger against 
his brother he ''ran to meet him, and embraced him, and 
fell on his neck and kissed him ; and they wept." 

When a man weeps for sin, it shows that he has 
strength of mind; nay, more, that he has strength im- 
parted by the Holy Spirit, which enables him to amend 
his ways and turn to God with full purpose of heart. 
And there are other tears of might too, the tears of 
tender sympathy ; they are the children of strong affec- 
tion. St. Paul, in his charge to the elders of the Church 
of Ephesus, says, " Therefore watch, and remember, that 
by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every 
one night and day with tears." Acts xx. 19-31 ; 2 Cor. 
ii. 4. Alas ! how unlike is this to many of our supplica- 
tions ! It is written of the Lord Jesus himself, that "in 
the days of his flesh, he offered up prayers and supplica- 
tions with strong crying and tears." Heb. v. *7. Look 
at him at the grave of Lazarus, and at the gate of IS'ain! 

The prayers of David, the sweet singer of Israel, 
bear unmistakable evidence of having been "offered up 
with strong crying and tears." Hear him : 

'*0 Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in 
thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy 
hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh be- 
cause of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones 
because of my sins. For mine iniquities have gone over mine 
head : as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds 
stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled ; 
I am bound down greatly ; I go mourning all the day long. For 



PRAYER. 117 

my loins are filled with loathsome disease ; and there is no sound- 
ness in my Mesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by 
reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is 
before thee ; and my groaning is not" hid from thee. My heart 
panteth, my strength faileth me : as for the light of mine eyes, it 
is also gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from 
my sore ; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek 
after my life lay snares for me : and they that seek my hurt speak 
mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, 
as a deaf man, heard not ; and I was as a dumb man that opeueth 
not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in 
whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, Lord, do I hope : 
thou wilt hear, Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest other- 
wise they should rejoice over me: Avhen my foot slippeth they 
magnify themselves against me. Fur I am ready to halt, and my sor- 
row is constantly before me. For I will declare mine iniquities : I 
will be sorry for my sins. But mine enemies are lively, and they 
are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because 
I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, Lord God ; 
my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, Lord my 
salvation." 

Words, looks, actions, may bear evidence of the feel- 
ings, but a tear comes from the heart, and speaks at once 
the language of truth, nature, and sincerity. Be assured 
when you see a tear on the cheek of any man that his 
heart is touched, and do not behold it with coldness or 
insensibility. Tears are the unequivocal language of 
the heart ; they are the unpassioned eloquence of woe, 
before which the pomp and gloss of speech fade as the 
orient pearly dew-drop before the morning sun. It must 
be a stony heart indeed in which the responsive chord 
of sympathy does not vibrate with the tears of a fellow- 
man in distress. 

When the believer is weakest, then is he the strongest. 



118 PRAYER. 

The child that knows most its utter feebleness, intrusts 
itself most completely into its mother's arms. The 
young eagle that knows, by many a fall, its own inability 
to fly, yields itself to be carried on its mother's wings : 
when it is weak, then it is strong. And just so the be- 
liever, when he has found out, by repeated falls, his own 
utter feebleness, clings with simplest faith to the Sa- 
viour, — leans on. his Beloved, coming up out of the 
wilderness, and hears with joy the words, " My grace is 
sufficient for thee," and he exclaims, " Thanks be unto 
God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 
2 Cor. ii. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 6t. The Lord despises all 
human strength, and will not have it. Zech. iv. 6 ; Jer. 
xxiii. 29 ; 1 Cor. viii. 2, 3. Therefore he breaks the 
bones of the lion and flings him aside into the fleld to 
rot, and then, after a little while, meat comes forth from 
the eater, and sweetness from the strong. Rejoice, 
therefore, ye " weak" ones ! for the Lord says to you, 
"Take hold of My strength." Isaiah xxvii. 5; Jer. xvi. 
19. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that 
have no might He increaseth strength. Even the youths 
shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly 
fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, 
and not faint." Isaiah xl. 29-31. "When I am weak, 
then am I strong," says St. Paul; and if there be any- 
thing paradoxical to reason, it is this saying. But in 
the spiritual life of the Christian it has its root struck 



PKAYER. 119 

through and through, and its most profound and im- 
portant meaning. While we are strong or self-sufficient 
in ourselves, there is no help for us. But when, the 
lamentation, ''Lord, save or we perish!" bursts out from 
the distressed and melting heart, then the day begins to 
dawn. 

Prayer — earnest, heart-felt prayer — is the silver trum- 
pet God commands us to sound in every necessity, and 
it is the cry he has promised always to regard, even as a 
loving mother the voice of her child. " Though heaven 
be His throne, and the earth His footstool," and " though 
the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him," (1 Kings 
viii. 2Y,) he looks to, He dwells with the man who is 
humble, who trembles at His word. " Thus saith the 
high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name 
is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him 
also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the 
spirits of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite 
ones." Isaiah Ivii. 15; Psalm cxlvii. 3-12; John xiv. 
21-23 ; 1 Peter v. 5-10. Not one humble, praying soul 
ever prayed in vain. No, not one, however guilty and 
despised in this world, ever went, in the name of Jesus, 
to the throne of grace, and departed unheard and 
unblest. 

Oh, what an honor for poor mortal men, to.be admitted 
to a direct and immediate intercourse with "the Lord of 
glory," to open to him our hearts, to unfold to him our 
wants, and to speak to him as a child does to his father I 
" Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 



120 PRAYER. 

them that fear him." Psalm ciii. 13; Deut. viii. 5. 
"Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and seek 
Him with the whole heart." Psalm cxix. 2. Ah, yes; 
and blessed is that father who can in the day of trouble 
call his family around him, and lifting his heart to hea- 
ven, with humble faith and holy love, say : 

"0 God, who madest earth and sky, 

The darkness and the day, 
Give ear to this thy family, 

And help us when we pray, — 
For wild the waves of bitterness 

Around our vessel roar, 
And heavy grows the pilot's heart, 

To view the rocky shore. 
The Cross our Master bore for us, 

For Him we fain would bear; 
But mortal strength to weakness turns, 

And courage to despair. 
Have mercy on our failings. Lord ; 

Our sinking faith renew ; 
And when thy sorrows visit us, 

send thy patience too." 

Prayer is, of all habits, the one which we recollect the 
longest. Many a grey-headed man could tell you how 
his father or his mother, or both, used to make him pray 
in the days of his childhood. Other things have passed 
from his memory and left no mark behind, but not so 
with his first prayers. He will often be able to tell you 
where he knelt, and what he was taught to say, and even 
how lovingly his parents looked while he raised his 
infant voice to heaven. It will come up as fresh before 
his mind's eye as if it were yesterday. 

Noble and beautiful indeed is the example of that 



PRAYER. 121 

youth who truly loves his parents, and manifest that 
love by promoting their enjoyments and lightening their 
cares and burdens. 

" My dear Mary Elizabeth," said a dying father to his 
only child, " read to me once more our Lord's last prayer 
for his disciples." Mary lighted a lamp, and read to him 
the ITth Chapter of St. John. "Now, raise me a little, 
my dear child," said her father, "and bring me the 
Bible." Mary put the precious Volume in his hands. 
"Listen, my dear child," he said, "to the last prayer I 
offer for you." With a trembling voice, and marking the 
passage in the Bible with his finger as he spoke, he 
prayed as follows : — 

" 0, my Lord and Saviour, thou art calling me to leave this 
world, and I must leave my dear child alone in it. But let her 
not be alone : he thou vt'ith her. May I go to thee, to be with 
thee where thou art, my Saviour ! and do thou preserve my 
child. I do not ask thee to take her out of this world till thou 
seest it best: but, 0, I beseech thee, do thou keep her from the 
evil that is in the world. Sanctify her, I pray thee, by thy truth — 
thy Word is truth. Thou gavest her, Lord, to my care in this 
world, and I have tried as far as I could to devote her to thee. 
If we must part now, grant that we may meet — with those 
* gone on before ' — at thy throne, to be with thee forever and ever, 
and to behold thy glory ; for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Amen." 

With a throbbing heart and a faltering voice, Mary 
whispered, "Amen." "Yes, my dear child," continued 
her father, "I trust that we shall meet again where 
there will be no more grief, no more sorrow, no more 
painful separations. When your three brothers died, 
I suffered very deeply. My soul seemed dried up 
n 



122 PRAYER. 

within me. I was broken up and furrowed,. as you have 
seen the earth in time of drought ; yet, after a time, the 
Lord sent the abundant and refreshing dew of his con- 
solations, and revived my thirsty soul, and I felt the 
benefit of the afilictions ; for, by these and other sore 
trials, he weaned me more and more from earthly things, 
and helped me to set my affections on things above." 

The ''poor" man (Rev. ii. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10 ; Jer. ix. 
23, 24,) now fell back on his pillow exhausted ; he could 
speak no more for some time, and Mary stood by his 
side in silence. The Bible was still grasped in his hands. 
After he had rested a few minutes, he revived a little, 
and said, '' I thank you once more, my darling child, for 
all your care and kindness to me in my long illness. You 
have been truly a dutiful child, and God will bless you. 
I leave you to his care, and to the care of these Christian 
friends around my dying bed. Trust in Him, my dear 
child, and he will provide for you, though I have but 
little to leave you but my blessing and this sacred Book. 
I know that you will esteem both more than any worldly 
thing. This Bible only cost a few shillings, and yet it 
is a richer treasure than gold or silver. It is a better 
legacy than gold or jewels, for it is the Word of God ; 
and by it we learn to know that heavenly wisdom which 
is better than rubies. (Prov. iii. 13-18 ; viii. 4-36 ; Job 
xxviii. 12-28: Kom. i. 16, 11.) 

*Thou truest Friend that man e'er knew, 

Thy constancy I've tried ; 
Where all were false I've found thee true, 
My Counselor and Guide ! 



PKAYEK. 123 

The mines of earth no treasure give 

That could this Volume buy ; 
In teaching me the way to live, 

It taught me how to die.' 

Take this precious Book, my beloved child, as your 
father's last gift. Keep it as a remembrance of me. 
However busy you may be, do not let any morning or 
evening pass without reading a small portion of it. Try 
and fix a verse or two in your memory, to think of and 
meditate on through the day and evening, when your 
hands are busy. If you do not understand any passage, 
pray to God to grant you his Holy Spirit to enlighten 
you, God himself, and he only, can open your eyes and 
make you see wonderful things in this glorious Yolume. 
(Psalm cxix, 18-*It ; Jer. xxxiii. 3.) And if you pray to 
him he will do this, and will give you daj^ by day more 
knowledge of himself. Each verse, meditated upon with 
prayer, Avill become a fresh treasure of heavenly wisdom. 
1 have learned more from these few words, ' Consider 
the lilies of the field,' than I learned in my youth from 
many a volume. These simple words have been the 
origin of my purest enjoyments ; and in many an afflic- 
tion, when I was ready to faint under the weight of the 
trial, they have revived my courage, strengthened my 
faith, and restored peace to my soul." 

It is recorded as the character of the wicked, that 
"they call not upon the Lord," 1 Peter i, IT ; 1 Cor. i. 
2; Psalm xiv, 4, "They spend their days in wealth, 
and in a moment go down to the grave. Therefore they 
say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the 



124 PRAYER. 

knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that 
we should serve him ? and what profit should we have, 
if we pray unto him ? Lo, their good is not in their 
hand; the counsel of the wicked is far from me." Job.xxi. 
13-16 ; xxvii. 8-22. It is said of the backsliding Israel- 
ites, " Your words have been stout against me, saith the 
Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much 
against thee ? Ye have said, It is a vain thing to serve 
God ; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordi- 
nances, and that we have walked mournfully before the 
Lord of hosts ? and now we call the proud happy ; yea, 
they that work wickedness are set up ; yea, they that 
tempt God are even delivered. 

" Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to 
another : and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a 
book of remembrance was written before him for them 
that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. 
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that 
day when I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them 
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then 
shall ye return and discern between the righteous and 
the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that 
serveth him not." Malachi iii. 13-18 ; Joel ii. 32. " Then 
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom 
of their Father." Matt. xiii. 43; Dan. xii. 3. Their Sun 
shall no more go down ; neither shall their moon with- 
draw itself: for the Lord shall be their everlasting light, 
and the days of their mourning shall be ended. • 



CHAPTER VI. 

PRAYER, CONTINUED. 

The Bible — Its amazing value — What David and Daniel thought of it 
— What the veterans of the Cross say — Dr. Arnold's remarks — " Praying 
with all prayer" hateful to the Devil — His devices — The weapons he uses 
— What the Christian must do — How to distinguish the true disciples of 
Christ from mere professors or " reprobates" — Sweet hour of prayer — 
Prayer within the reach of all — Ignorance or want of education no ex- 
cuse — What every true soldier of Christ does — What David said of 
" filthy rags" or self-righteousness — The power of Satan — His depths — 
His perfidious cruelty — Tries to delude, degrade, and ruin the Christian 
— His lying and detestable character — His last resource to destroy the 
Christian — The warnings of the fathers against his deceptions — What 
provokes Christ most — The recording Angel ever present — Unguarded 
moments — What the erring Christian must do — What broke Peter's heart 
— The Lord's last prayer for his disciples, and for all who come to him. 

No man can become truly religious without a close 
study of the Bible. A prayerful contemplation of its 
glorious pages fills the soul with emotions of love and 
tenderness, and lifts the heart in anthems of praise to its 
glorious Author. Daniel was pondering over the writ- 
ings of Jeremiah when he was stimulated to present that 
effectual prayer, in answer to which Gabriel was sent a 
ministering spirit, to assure him of being " greatly be- 
loved," and to give him skill and understanding. The 
sweet singer of Israel took great delight in the perusal 
II* (125) 



126 PRAYER. 

of God's word, and pronounced it to be more precious 
"than gold, yea, than much fine gold : sweeter also than 
honey and the honey-comb." " A man's love of the 
Bible at the beginning of a religious course," says Dr. 
Arnold, "is such as makes the praise which older Chris- 
tians give in its behalf seem exaggerated ; but, after 
thirty, forty, or fifty years of a religious life, such praise 
always sounds inadequate : its glories seem so much 
more full than they did at first." And this experience 
of the inexhaustibleness of the Bible grows with the 
perusal. The more we read it, the more we desire to 
read, and the more we find to read. After all our delv- 
ing there are profounder depths to be sounded; after all 
our soaring, there are still loftier heights to be scaled. 
Psalm cxix. 18; Jer. xxxiiL 3; Deut. xvii. 18, 20. 

Hail, glorious Gospel ! heavenly light whereby 
We live with comfort and with comfort die ; 
And view beyond this gloomy scene, the tomb, 
A life of endless happiness to come. 

It is said by the biographer of the Rev. Joseph Al- 
leine, author of the " Alarm to the Unconverted," that he 
rose at four o'clock in the morning, and employed the time 
till eight in meditation and prayer ; and considers that 
as the principal means of Mr. Alleine's high attainments 
in the Divine life, and his glowing zeal for God, love to 
souls, and extensive usefulness as a minister of the Gos- 
pel. It is said by the biographer of the Rev. John Flet- 
cher, that " at one period of his life, he was brought into 
such an intricate situation, that he was whollv at a loss 



PRAYER. 127 

to discover what God required at his hands. And such 
was the difficulty before him, that the opinions of his 
most experienced Christian friends could afford him but 
little light with respect to it. In this state,- for three 
months successively, he spread the intricacies of his case 
before God, entreating that he would direct the course 
of his conduct by the order of his providence and the in- 
fluence of his Spirit. His request was continued till an 
answer was obtained. It is written of the Lord Jesus 
Christ himself, that he often withdrew from Company 
and prayed alone, " In the morning, rising up a great 
while before day, he went out and departed into a soli- 
tary place, and there prayed." Mark i. 35. On another 
occasion, " He went into a mountain to pray, and con- 
tinued all night in prayer to God." He hath thus left us 
an example that we should follow in his footsteps. 

The devil will do all he can to keep us from our 
closets, embarrass our minds, and hinder us in our ap- 
proaches to the throne of grace. He knows that "pray- 
ing with all prayer," is an essential part of the Chris- 
tian's armor ; and that the feeblest soldier of the cross, 
if he give himself unto prayer, shall more than conquer. 
Eph. vi. 10-19; Isaiah xl. 29-31. He wall, therefore, 
exercise his craft and exert his power to draw or drive 
us from the duty; and will avail himself of every 
circumstance and occurrence favorable to his diabolical 
purposes ; and will adapt his temptations to our natural 
disposition and temperament, and take advantage of 
all our weaknesses. Hence the hinderances to prayer 



128 PRAYER. 

are many and various. If we give place to the devil by 
fostering pride, discontent, distrust of Divine Providence, 
self-will, or any other wrong temper toward God, we 
grieve the Holy Spirit, and become indisposed for secret 
intercourse with Him who " is of purer eyes than to be- 
hold iniquity." Envy, revenge, censoriousness, evil- 
speaking, or any other temper contrary to the love of 
"the brethren," will have the same effect. 

XJnkindness toward those who have a high and holy 
claim to our sympathy and affection is painfully cruel. 
We are all creatures of sympathy. We share each 
other's life, and have the power to render each other 
happy or unhappy. The wound inflicted by the sword 
is no more painful than the wound inflicted by a cruel 
tale-bearing and slanderous tongue. Psalm xli. 6 ; 
Prov. xi. 9; Jer. ix. 3-8; xviii. 18; James iii. 6. How 
careful, then, should we be in all our words, looks, and 
acts, lest we pain the heart of a fellow-being. In the 
strength of our selfishness we too often forget the harsh- 
ness of our words, and the coldness or bitterness of our 
looks. We care not for the deep and bleeding incisions 
which they have left behind them. " It was not an 
enemy," says the Psalmist, "that reproached me; then 
I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me 
that did magnify himself against me ; then I would have 
hid myself from him : but it was thou, a man mine 
equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took 
sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of 
Grod in company." Psalm Iv. 12-14 ; eler. ix. 4, 5. " These 



PRAYER. 129 

are the things that ye shall do : Speak ye every man the 
truth to his neighbor ; execute the judgment of truth and 
peace in your gates : and let none of you imagine evil 
in your hearts against his neighbor ; and love no false 
oath : for all these are things that I hate, saith the 
Lord." 

Unwatchfulness and levity of spirit are also great 
hinderances to prayer. While we shudder at the idea of 
committing open sin, we may unawares slide into a care- 
less and trifling spirit, and its natural attendant, trifling 
conversation ; by which the mind is disqualified for the 
spiritual exercises of the religion of the glorious Gospel 
of Christ. Cheerfulness becomes a Christian ; and if 
tempered with discretion and deep piety, makes religion 
appear amiable to ''the world," and conducive to our 
own happiness. But trifling and levity are unbecoming 
the Christian character, and unfit the mind for prayer. 
St. Paul ranks "foolish talking" and "jesting" with 
fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, and filthiness. 
Listen : " But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covet- 
ousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh 
saints ; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, 
which are not convenient : but rather giving of thanks. 
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean 
person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any 
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let 
no man deceive you with vain words: for because of 
these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children 
of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with 



130 PRAYER. 

them." Eph. v. 3-7 ; 2 Peter ii. 3-19. " These are they 
who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 
But ye beloved, building up yourselves on your most 
holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves 
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord 
Jesus Christ unto eternal life." 

Sweet hour of prayer ! sweet hour of prayer ! 

That calls me from a world of care, 

And bids me at my Father's throne 

Make all my wants and wishes known ; 

In seasons of distress and grief, 

My soul has often found relief; 

And oft escaped the tempter's snare 

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer. 

Sweet hour of prayer ! sweet hour of prayer ! 

Thy wings shall my petition bear, 

To Him whose truth and faithfulness, 

Engage the waiting soul to bless ; 

And since he bids me seek his face, 

Believe his word, and trust his grace, 

I'll cast on him my every care, 

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer. 

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! 

May I thy consolation share ; 

Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height, 

I view my home, and take my flight : 

This robe of flesh I'll drop, and rise 

To seize the everlasting prize; 

And shout, while passing through the air. 

Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer. 

Prayer is within the reach of all, — the sick, the aged, 
the infirm, the paral3^tic, the blind, the poor, the un- 
learned, all can pray. It avails us nothing to plead want 
of memory or want of learning, or want of books, or 



PRAYEK. 131 

want of scholarship in this matter. Acts iv. 13 ; Luke 
xviii. 13, 14 ; Rom. viii. 26, 27 ; Psalm xxv. 14. " Some- 
times, perhaps," says Gurnall, "thou hearest another 
Christian pray with much freedom and fluency, whilst 
thou canst hardly get out a few broken words. Hence, 
thou art ready to accuse thyself and to admire him ; as 
if the gilding of the key made it open the door." Gifts 
have their root in nature, but grace has its roots in 
Christ. Lip-service amounts to nothing. God looks at 
the heart, and knows the imaginations of the thoughts. 
] Chron. xxviii. 9 ; Job xlii. 1 ; Psalm cxxxix. 4-12 ; 
Hosea vii. 2 ; John i. 48, 49. It w^as not the eloquent 
proud-praying Pharisee that " went down to his house 
justified," but the poor publican who " smote on his 
breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." 

Inward life does not consist in a life of morbid security, 
arising from the recollection of having once received the 
forgiveness of sins. Where a real spiritual life exists, 
there will be unceasing striving against sin, repeated 
humiliation before God, and renewed experience of his 
favor. Were it otherwise, why should the Lord put into 
his children's lips the daily petition, "Forgive as our 
trespasses." The true Soldier of the Cross does not 
feel lifted up by the view of what he has already spirit- 
ually attained, but humbled, because he is still so far 
short of what he would like to be. He knows that 
Christ is " all" in his salvation, and that he is nothing. 
He knows that his own righteousness is but " filthy 
rags" before God ; that he is nothing, and that he can 



182 PRAYEll. 

do nothing meritorious to procure salvation from God; 
for whatever he does, and whatever he can give, are 
ah'eady God's property. Luke xvii. 10 ; Deut viii. 10-19. 
So that he is still led to look up to God, as David did, 
when he thus disclaims the possibility of creature merit : 
" All things come of Thee, and of thine own have we 
given thee." 1 Chron. xxix. 14-16 ; Psalm 1. 12. We 
must tear in pieces the dress of our imaginary righteous- 
ness, power, and wisdom. Jer. ix. 23, 24 ; Prov. xxviii. 
26. We must not conceal our nakedness, nor seek to 
hide our shame under the cover of the forgiveness we 
obtained years ago. We must always come before God 
as poor sinners and poverty-stricken mendicants, if we 
wish to recommend ourselves to him. All self-exaltation 
is an abomination in his sight. 

The frequency and earnestness with which holy men 
of God, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost, warn the Church against the wiles of Satan, prove 
how absolutely necessary it is, on the part of the Chris- 
tian soldier, to " watch and pray," to be continually upon 
his guard. The devil to them was not " the principle of 
evil," but a terrible malevolent, personal reality — ''a 
roaring lion, going about seeking whom he may devour." 
1 Peter iv. 8; Luke xxii. 31. Or disguised as " an angel 
of light," seeking whom he may deceive. 2 Cor. li. 14, 
15; Rev. ii. 24. "Hell" and the "Devil" were not 
"figments of the imagination" with them, but horri- 
ble, ever-present actualities, that inspired them with 
unspeakable earnestness in warning saint and sinner not 



PRAYER. 1.38 

to listen to the latter, and to hasten to Christ that they 
might escape the former. This realization of the unseen 
and eternal, both in their infernal and celestial aspects, 
was one of the great elements of their power. This is 
also true of every man who shines or has shone in the 
pulpit department of ministerial usefulness. Had Lu- 
ther not thrown the inkstand at the devil, or John Wes- 
ley heard of the strange noises and the mysterious 
movements in the parsonage of Epworth, or John Bun- 
yan been favored with such visions of the invisible 
world in Bedford jail, or Stoner and Smith, or Payson 
and M'Cheyne been in such intimate relations with the 
spiritual, they never could have preached or written 
with such marvelous, self-forgetful, incisive, penetrating 
clearness and force as they did. 

In intellect, in strength, in powers of perception, in 
subtlety, in all the faculties which make a malignant foe 
formidable, Satan towers above the hosts of darkness, 
who obey and follow him as their leader and prince. 
The titles ascribed to him in the Scriptures all illustrate 
his malignity and power. They imply that he is desti- 
tute of every good principle — that he falters not in view 
of any expedient which may help him to consummate 
his schemes of ruin. He is to be deterred by no sug- 
gestions of pity; a stranger alike to truth and love, he 
lies in wait to deceive, and by all the devices of infernal 
cunning, he toils, tasking his mighty energies to the 
utmost, in order to delude, degrade, and ruin the victims 
of his perfidious cruelty. Gen. lii. 1-4; Isaiah lix. 19; 
12 



134 PRAYER. 

2 Cor. ii. 11 ; 1 Tim. iii. 6 ; 2 Tim. ii. 24-2G ; 1 Peter v. 
8-10 ; James iv. Y. In the New Testament he is spoken 
of as ''the Devil," or ''the Calumiuator," because he is 
" the accuser of the brethren ; " as " the Tempter," as " a 
Liar and a Murderer from the beginning ; " as " the Old 
Serpent, who deceived Eve," and as "the Deceiver." 
John viii. 44 ; 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4 ; Eph. ii. 2 ; Rev. xii. 9-12. 
He is represented in Revelations as "the Great Dra- 
gon," — as "the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, whose 
name is, in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in the Greek, Apol- 
lyon, the Destroyer." The apostle Paul styles him " the 
Prince of the power of the air," and " the god of this 
world." These are the principal titles ascribed to the 
devil in the Scriptures, and sufficiently indicate his cha- 
racter and power. 

The wrath of Satan is directed to the two-fold object 
of rendering the lives of men miserable upon earth, and 
of blasting their hope and prospect of eternal life in hea- 
ven. He dwells in the wicked, and leads them captive 
at his will. Eph. ii. 2 ; 2 Tim. ii. 26. When he cannot 
lure the Christian from the path of God's testimonies, 
when despite of all his artifices he holds fast the truths 
of the Gospel, he stirs up the passions of the wicked in 
whom he rules, and who hate the oracles of God, because 
they have pleasure in unrighteousness. In the calami- 
ties entailed upon the house of Israel by their repeated 
baekslidings and apostacies from God, we behold the 
traces of Satan's power and malice as "the Destroyer." 
He inflames men to the utmost pitch of blasphemy 



PRAYER. 185 

against God, in the hope that they may be suddenly cut 
off and driven away in their wickedness. He blinds the 
minds of men, and hardens their hearts by strong delu- 
sions, that they may believe a lie and be damned. 2 Cor. 
iv. 3, 4 ; 1 Peter ii. 1-3 ; Jude 16-19. 

Christ is never more wounded in the house of his 
friends, than when they murmur; nothing seemed so 
much to overcome his forbearance with the Israelites. 
Murmuring is a mercy-embittering sin, a mercy-souring 
sin. As the sweetest things put into a sour vessel sours 
them, or put into a bitter vessel embitters them, so mur- 
muring puts gall and wormwood into every cup of mercy 
that God gives into the Christian's hands. It is calcu- 
lated that not less than one million of the children of 
Israel died in the wilderness by God's judgments for 
their murmurings. 

Oh, if men would I'emember that the recording Angel 
is always near them, how different would their conversa- 
tion and conduct be. Listen : " Wo unto them that seek 
to hide deep their counsel from the Lord, and their works 
are in the dark, and they say. Who seeth us ? and who 
knoweth us?" Isaiah xxix. 19. " Suffer not thy mouth 
to cause thy flesh to sin ; neither say thou before the 
Angel, it was an error : wherefore should God be angry 
at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?" 
" Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought, and curse 
not the rich in thy bed-chamber; for a bird of the air 
shall carry the voice, and That which hath wings shall 
tell the matter." Eccles. v. 6 ; x. 20 ; 2 Kings vi. 12; 



136 PRAYER. 

1 Cor. iv. 9. " The Lord searcheth all hearts, and un- 
derstandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." 1 
Chron. xxviii. 9 ; Job xlii. 1. '' There is not a word in 
my tongue, but, lo, Lord, thou knowest it altogether." 
Psalm cxix. 4 ; Matt. xii. 36 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ; Heb. iv. 13. 
Unguarded moments occur, in which the Christian in- 
cautiously thinks, speaks, or does that which is improper, 
and is again guilty of unfaithfulness, although against his 
will ; for only the devil and his seed sin wilfully. The 
man's " walk" is polluted. What is now to be done ? Two 
paths present themselves, and not unfrequently one of 
them is taken. The individual either gives himself up 
to an excessive feeling of his guilt — openly cries out, 
" Unclean, unclean !" like one who is excluded from the 
fellowship of the pure, — regards himself as fallen from 
grace, — considers the bond of union with the Lord as 
rent asunder, and cries out with Peter, " Lord, not my 
feet only, but also my hands and my head !" Or else 
he takes his transgressions too easily, — persuades him- 
self that the faults he has committed are of no import- 
ance,— soothes his conscience with the rash and vain 
idea that the iniquity belongs to the multitude of sins 
which have been atoned for and annihilated by the blood 
of Christ, and thus unconcernedly proceeds on his way ! 
In each of these cases there is a deviation, the one to 
the right, and the other to the left of the line of truth. 
In the former, the man gives way unnecessarily to an 
excessive idea of the fault he has committed, and as- 
cribes it to an influence over his entire state of grace, 



PKAYEK. 137 

which according to the Scriptures it does not exercise. 
The child of the family of God is not suddenly turned 
out doors, like a servant or a stranger. The seed of 
the new birth remains in him. " He that is washed," 
says Jesus, "is clean every whit; and ye are clean but 
not all." Who does not understand this speech? Its 
meaning is, he that has truly become a partaker of the 
blood of sprinkling and of the baptism of the Holy Ghost 
— that is, of the twofold grace of absolution from the 
guilt of sin, and of the regeneration to newness of life, — 
is, as regards the inmost germ of his being, a thoroughly? 
new man, who has eternally renounced sin, and whose 
imnost love, desire, and intention is direct to God and 
divine things. 

When such a man, from weakness, is ''overtaken by 
a fault," as St. Paul expresses it, he has no need of an 
entirely new transformation, but only a cleansing. He 
must let his feet be washed. Let this be duly considered 
by those who are in a state of grace, and let them " re- 
sist the devil," " the accuser of the brethren," lest he 
gain an advantage over them by his boundless accusa- 
tions. Hold up the blood of the Lamb as a shield against 
him, and do not suffer your courage and confidence to be 
shaken. Kev. xii. 9-11. But you must beware of cloak- 
ing or underestimating your unfaithfulness. No fault is 
too trifling or inconsiderable. You must suffer the Judge 
in your breast to perform his ofiSce without hinderance, 
and not refuse to listen to his convictions. You must 

draw near to God as grieved, but not as a despairing 
12* 



138 PRAYER. 

child, and sincerely confess your faults. Let your lan- 
guage be as follows : — 

" Lord, my God, I have sinned against thee afresh, and am 
grieved at it. I judge and condemn myself; but thy mercy is 
great, and therein do I trust. Sprinkle my conscience with the 
blood of atonement, and enable me by faith, to appropriate, for 
this my fault, the suffering thy dear Son endured for me!" 

Let the humble and contrite heart pray thus, and the 
Lord will graciously incline to it, and impart forgiveness to 
the soul by hisHoly Spirit, and the peace of the soul with 
the consciousness of adoption will remain undisturbed 
in the blood of the Lamb. And 0, how do we feel our- 
selves again united to the Lord, and strengthened anew 
to fight against Satan, the world, and our own flesh and 
blood: and how does the joyful confidence bloom afresh 
in our minds, that we really possess " a Friend that 
sticketh closer than a brother," after such a renewed ex- 
perience of His faithfulness ! Then we arrive again at 
Penuel, and exultingly say with Jacob, " I have seen 
the Lord face to face, and my life is preserved ;" and 
join, with deep emotion, in the words of David, " Re- 
turn unto thy rest, my soul ! for the Lord hath dealt 
bountifully with thee !" 

My God is reconciled; his pard'ning voice I hear; 
He owns me for his child ; I can no longer fear ; 

With confidence I now draw nigh, 

And Father, Abba, Father, cry. 

It is said of Peter, that the remembrance of his fall 
never left him for a moment ; and in the degree in which 
it kept him low, it sharpened his spiritual vision for the 



PRAYER. 139 

mystery of the cross and of salvation by grace. This is 
abundantly evident, especially in his first epistle. He 
there comforts believers with the cheering assurance that 
they are " Kept by the power of God, through faith unto 
salvation." He calls upon them to " hope to the ejid 
for the grace that shall be revealed." He. impressively 
reminds them of the weakness and evanescent nature of 
everything human. He speaks of " the precious blood 
of Christ as a Lamb without spot," with a fervor which 
immediately indicates him as one who had deeply ex- 
perienced its healing power. It is he who addresses the 
warning to us, " Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary 
the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he 
may devour." 

It was not simply the crowing of the cock that raised 
Peter from his fall. Nor did the turning of the Lord 
toward him produce the desired effect. A third and 
more powerful means was added. What was it ? A 
word, a call, an exhortation? — ^N'o ; a look which the 
eye of ''the Keeper of Israel" cast upon his now un- 
happy disciple, who was staggering on the brink of des- 
truction. This look did wonders. "The Lord turned, 
and looked upon Peter." What a look must that have 
been ! What divine sorrow and love must it have ex- 
pressed ! and how accompanied by the effulgence of the 
Spirit of divine grace ! It struck like destroying light- 
ning, and at the same time expanded itself in refreshing 
dew. The Lord's look did not fail of its effect upon 
Peter. No sooner did the fallen disciple's eyes meet his, 
than the magic band which held him is dissolved, the 



1-10 PRAYER. 

Satanic intoxication dispelled, his ears opened, and re- 
flection returns — nay, sin is acknowledged — his heart is 
melted — the snare is broken and the bird has escaped 
Luke xxii. 61, 62; Psalm cxxiv. 7. The Lord knew 
that Peter would fall, and his chief care was lest he should 
despair after his fall ; and that, at the proper time, he 
should take courage to return to him. Hence, he said, 
with the kindest forethought, "And when thou art con- 
verted, strengthen thy brethren." Thus hath the faith 
which the Holy Spirit produces in every true Soldier of 
the Cross, a pledge of endurance in his Lord's interces- 
sion. It may be assaulted, tried and shaken, but can 
not be extinguished or annihilated. Peter was given to 
know this, in order that he might be in possession of a 
sufficient weapon when assailed. But in case of his 
succumbing, this consciousness was to serve him as a 
staff, by means of which he might successfully leap over 
the abyss of despair. *' I have prayed for thee," says 
the Lord, " that thy faith fail not." 

how the Lord loved his "little flock," when he took 
their sins with him into judgment, and cast himself into 
the fire which their transgressions had kindled ! How 
he loved them, when his own blood did not seem to him 
too dear a price to be paid for them, although it was they 
who were the transgressors ! He loved them to the 
end ; and to this day he loves them that are his in similar 
manner. Listen: "Neither pray I for these alone, but 
for them also which shall believe on me through their 
word. That they may all be one, as thou. Father, art 
ill Me, and I in Thee." 



CHAPTER yil. 

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

"What God said in Abraham's praise — The example of Christ — Wnrn- 
ings to parents — "I won't" — Job and Solomon on Wisdom — The happy 
child — A man shall be known in his children — The life speaks — Every 
action has a tongue — Ahaziah and his wicked mother — Their fearful end 
— What a properly brought up child hates — What wicked children do — 
What the Scriptures say of them and their wicked parents — The drunk- 
ard and profane swearer — Who is responsible — " Am I my brother's 
keeper?" — God commands a disobedient drunken son to be stoned to 
death by his parents. 

Obedience to parents has all Scripture on its side. It 
is said in Abraham's praise, not merely he will train his 
family, but " he will command his children and his house- 
hold after him." Gen. xviii. 9 It is said of the Lord 
Jesus himself, that when he was young he was subject 
to Mary and Joseph, as a child of their family, until he 
was thirty years of age ; and forgot not when nailed to 
the cross, and undergoing the most dreadful of deaths, 
to provide an effectual support and protection for his 
mother. 

See how Isaiah speaks of it as ah evil thing when 
"the child shall behave himself proudly against the 
ancient." Isaiah iii. 5 ; Levit. xix. 32. Mark how St. 
Paul names disobedience to parents as one of the bad 
signs of the latter days : " This know also, that in the 
last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be 



142 OBEDIENCE TO PAKENTS. 

lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, 
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 
without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, 
incontinent, fierce; despisers of those that are good, 
traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasure more 
than lovers of God ; having a form of godliness, but 
denying the power thereof: from such turn away.'' 
" But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned 
and hast been assured of, knowing of vi^hom thou hast 
learned them ; and that from a child thou hast known 
the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise 
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.'' 
Rom. iii. 1-5; Heb. iv. 12, 13; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3; 1 
Kings xiv. 13. Notice how he singles out this grace as 
one that should adorn a Christian minister, "A bishop 
must be one that ruleth well his own house, having his 
children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man 
know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take 
care of the Church of God?" Again, "Let the deacons 
rule their children and their own house well." And 
again, "An elder must be one having faithful children, 
not accused of riot or unruly." 

He who resorts to human means, and human wisdom 
only, in the training of his family, and adopts the world's 
cold and lifeless morality, instead of the living and 
powerful word of the glorious Gospel of Christ, is sow- 
ing tares instead of wheat ; and the crop will be tares, 
and nothing but tares. Every parent, every person that 
has a child under his care, ought to feel that such child is 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 143 

God's, committed to him for the express purpose of being 
trained up for God, for the service and enjoyment of 
God, in time and in eternity; and at his hands will that 
child be required, if through neglect and mismanagement, 
it should perish eternally. " Train up a child in the way 
he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from 
it." Prov. xxii. 6 ; Deut. viii. 5. Think what it is to 
have a promise like this. Promises were the only lamp 
of hope which cheered the hearts of the Patriarchs 
before the Bible was written. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, — all lived on a few promises, and 
prospered in their souls, 

Hnppy the child who finds the grace, 
The blessing of God's chosen race, 
The wisdom coming from above, 
The faith that sweetly works by love. 

By the time a child is two years of age, he ought to 
be in the habit of cheerful submission to whatever he 
knows to be the will of his parents. Be assured if your 
child says to any of 3'our requirements, " I won't," or 
sets up resistance in the way of crying and pouting, 
there is a radical error in your management, that threat- 
ens shipwreck to the whole business of education. Be- 
sides, a ready, cheerful obedience from the early dawn of 
reason, while it greatly facilitates every part of after- 
education, is of essential use to counteract the self-will, 
the obstinacy, and bad temper of a child, before they are 
confirmed and strengthened by indulgence. The parent 
should plant himself on this ground: "My child's will 



144 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

must yield to mine ; not simply to gratify me, but from 
principle, because God requires it ; and also for his own 
sake, it being impossible on any other condition that he 
can be prosperous and happy." Let the child render 
implicit obedience to this great statute of heaven. 

Every parent ought to be fully aware, that it is in the 
early part of childhood, more especially, that a corrective 
can be applied to those evil passions whose dominion in 
manhood will be certain ruin. " He that spareth his rod 
hateth his son ; but he that loveth him chasteneth him 
betimes." Prov. xiii. 24. "Chasten thy son while there 
is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." Prov. 
ix. 18. " Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; 
but the rod of correction shall drive it from him." Prov. 
xxii. 15. " Withhold not correction from the child, for 
if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die. Thou 
shalt beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from 
hell." Prov. xxiii. 13, 14. " The rod and reproof give 
wisdom ; but a child left to himself bringeth his mother 
to shame. Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, 
yea, he shall give delight to thy soul." 

After the establishment of authority over the infant 
mind, must commence the effort of storing it with know- 
ledge. "Wisdom," says Solomon, "is the principal 
thing; therefore, get wisdom." It is, indeed, the prin- 
cipal thing ; as, without it, nothing valuable can be 
acquired. Job, speaking of its value, says, " It cannot 
be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the 
price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 145 

Ophir, with the precious onyx or the sapphire. The 
gold and crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it 
shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be 
made of coral, or of pearls : for the price of wisdom is 
above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, 
neither shall it be valued with pure gold." Job xxviii. 
15-19; Prov. xv. 33; xxiv. 1; Coloss. ii. 3. "Happy 
is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getfeth 
understanding : for the merchandise of it is better than 
the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine 
gold. She is more precious than rubies : and all the 
things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto 
her. Length of days is in her right hand ; and in her 
left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of 
pleasantness, and all her paths are paths of peace. She 
is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her : and 
happy is every one that retaineth her. The Lord by 
wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath 
he established the heavens. By his knowledge the 
depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 
My son, let them not depart from thine eyes : keep sound 
wisdom and discretion: so shall they be life unto thy 
soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in 
thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When 
thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid ; yea, thou shalt 
lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet." 

It is remarkable that all the promises of God to his 
people are formally and avowedly extended to their 
children as well as to themselves. This was a funda- 
13 



146 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

mental idea in his covenant with Abraham: "I will 
establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy 
seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting 
covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after 
thee. And I will give unto thee and thy seed after thee 
the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of 
Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their 
God. This is my covenant between me and you, and 
thy seed after thee: Every man-child among you shall 
be circumcised." A foresight of Abraham's faithfulness 
and success in training up his children religiously was 
the ground of God's especial confidence in him : " Shall 
I hide from Abraham the thing which I do? — For I 
know him, that he will command his children and his 
household after him, and they shall keep the way of the 
Lord, to do judgment and justice." Let the impression 
dwell upon your heart, and stimulate your e very-day's 
effort, that in proportion that you make your child wise, 
wise in the possession of every useful kind of knowledge, 
but especially the knowledge of " the living and true 
God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent," you bring 
within his reach the means of every kind of usefulness 
and comfort, here and hereafter ; while, without it, there 
can be nothing but degradation and wretchedness in 
time, and, through eternity, everlasting perdition, from 
that God who hath pronounced on the people of " no 
understanding," "that the God who made them will not 
have mercy on them ; he that formed them will show 
them no favor." 



OBEDIENCE TO PAKENTS. 147 

The most unwearied diligence is to be used in com- 
municating this instruction, especially as it regards re- 
ligious knowledge. As God himself has commanded, 
*' Ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them 
when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkesi 
by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest 
up ; and thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of 
thine house, and upon thy gates." Deut. xi. 19, 20; 1 
Sam. iii. 13. Let those who have failed in training up 
their children to wisdom and piety, inquire whether their 
diligence has been, from the early dawn of reason, any- 
thing like what is here required. It is said of Eli, that 
he honored his sons above God; and what was the end 
of Eli and his depraved sons ? He lived to hear of the 
death of both his sons, and his grey hairs were brought 
down with sorrow to the grave. 1 Sam. ii. 29; iv. 18. 
In addition to this, the Lord pronounced the following- 
sentence against his house : — 

"And the Lord called Samuel again the third time; and he 
arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou didst call 
me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. There- 
fore, Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if He 
call thee, that thou shalt say. Speak, Lord, for thy servant 
heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the 
Lord came and cnlled as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then 
Samuel answered, Speak, Lord, for thy servant lieareth. And the 
Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which 
both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that 
day will I perform against Eli all things which I have spoken con- 
cerning his house : when I begin I will also make an end. For I 
have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity 
which he knoweth ; because his sons made themselves vile, and 



148 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the 
house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged 
with sacrifice nor offering for ever." 

Virtuous youth gradually brings forward accomplished 
and flourishing manhood ; and such manhood passes of 
itself, without uneasiness, into respectable and tranquil 
old age. But when nature is turned out of its regular 
course, disorder takes place in the moral just as in the 
vegetable world. As, in the succession of the seasons, 
each, by the invariable laws of Nature, affects the pro- 
ductions of what is next in course ; so, in human life, 
every period of our age, according as it is well or ill 
spent, influences the happiness of that which is to follow. 
If the spring put forth no blossoms, in summer there 
will be no beauty, and in autumn no fruit. So, if youth 
be trifled away without improvement, manhood will be 
contemptible, and old age miserable. If the beginnings 
of life have been " vanity," its latter end can be no other 
than "vexation of spirit." 

By cool Siloam's shady rill 

How sweet the lily grows ! 
How sweet the breath, beneath the hill, 

Of Sharon's dewy rose ! 
Lo ! such the child w^hose early feet 

The paths of peace have trod — 
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet, 

Is upward drawn to God. 
By cool Siloam's shady rill 

The lily must decay ; 
The rose that blooms beneath the hill 

Must shortly fade away. 

A man shall be known in his children. Ecclesiasticus 



OBEmESCE TO PAEE^^TS. Uy 

xi, 28: Jer. xxxv. 18, 19; Ezek. xvi. 44; Hosea iv. 9. 
Children, in the first instance, learn almost everything 
by imitation. It seems to be a law of their nature to 
do. what they see others do. Hence the fact so univer- 
sally observed, that the children grow up to be like those 
with whom they are reared. Just in proportion to the 
depravity of the society among whom they dwell, is the 
difficulty and danger in training up a family for God. 
Regard it, then, as essential to your success, that you 
should be before your children, Avhat you would have 
them to be. Teach them to be wise, by acting wisely 
in their presence. Teach them love, and faith, and 
humility, and godly fear, and other Christian graces, by 
habitually acting those graces before their eyes. Keeping 
your children much with yourself, taking them daily to 
the throne of grace, and exemplifying in simplicity and 
godly sincerity, the true Christian character before them, 
it will be marvellous indeed, if, in due time, you have 
not the unspeakable happiness of seeing " some good 
thing toward the Lord" in them. Example is a living 
lesson. The life speaks. Ever}^ action has a tongue, 

Happy the child who wisdom gains ; 
Thrice happy Avho his Guest retains 
He owns, and shall forever own, 
Wisdom, and Christ, and heaven are one. 

Nothing can be more certain than that impious or pro- 
fane thoughts, uttered by a parent, makes an impression 
on the young heart which nothing can efface. Such a 
parent may be a member of church, or even a preacher 

18* 



150 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

of the Gospel, and pray and sing, night and morning, 
but this will only add to his guilt, " For the wrath of 
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and 
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unright- 
eousness." " If God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell," and spared not the old 
world, and destroyed the people of Sodom and Gomorrha, 
on account of their " filthy conversation and unlawful 
deeds," will he spare parents whose filthy conversation 
and unlawful deeds lead their children to hell ? No ; he 
will not spare them, for he declares that he will tear them 
in pieces. Psalm 1. 22; Rev. xxi. 27. _ There is none 
upon earth more desperately wicked than the parent who 
neglects, or refuses, to train up his children for useful- 
ness and heaven. Indeed he is infinitely more guilty 
than a common murderer, inasmuch as he destroys the 
souls of his own children ; and through their vile exam- 
ple, the souls of other children. 

It is said of Ahaziah, king of Israel, that he walked in 
the ways of the house of Ahab, for Athaliah, "his mo- 
ther, was his counsellor to do wickedly;'' and that this 
led "to his destruction." It is written of the sons of 
this wicked woman, that they " had broken up the house 
of God ; and also all the dedicated things of the house 
of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim." But a 
dreadful doom overtook them and their wicked mother. 
(See the 22d and 23d, and 24th Chapters of 2 Chronicles.) 

The parent is the natural guardian of the intellect and 
heart of his child, and God will hold him responsible 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 151 

who deputes his duties to another. The father repre- 
sents the divine Lawgiver, whose vicegerent he is for 
carrying out the gracious designs of an infinite benevo- 
lence, in the establishment of upright principles, and the 
formation of a pure, virtuous character. Almost every- 
thing depends on preoccupying the soul with right habits, 
of which none is so intimately connected with favorable 
religious developments, as the habit of obedience to legi- 
timate authority. This is a strictly fundamental principle 
in the Christian religion, and should be the first object 
in family government. Every parent who fails in estab- 
lishing this unquestioned dominion over his child, does 
in the same degree entail upon him a curse of fearful 
omen. It may be laid down as a Christian axiom, that 
the rebellious spirit which refuses obedience to parents, 
will be the last to render it to God. 

Dr. Johnson gave this advice to parents : "Accustom 
your children to a strict attention to truth, even in the 
most minute particulars. If a thing happen at one win- 
dow, and they when relating it say that it happened at 
another, do not let it pass, but instantly check them ; 
you do not know where deviation from truth will end. 
It is more from carelessness about truth than from inten- 
tional lying that there is so much falsehood in the 
world." The evil and injustice of lying appear, 1. From 
its b« ing a breach of the natural and universal right of 
mank- 'd to truth in the intercourse of speech. 2. From 
its being a violation of God's sacred law. Phil. iv. 8 ; 
Lcvit. xix. 11; Col. iii. 9. 3. The faculty of speech was 



152 OBEDIKNCE TO PARENTS. 

bestowed as an instrument of knowledge, not of deeeit; 
to communicate our thoughts, not to hide them. 4. It 
is esteemed a reproach of so heinous and hateful a na- 
ture for a man to be called a liar, that sometimes the life 
and blood of the slanderer have paid for it. 5. It has a 
tendency to dissolve all society, and to indispose the 
mind to religious impressions. 6. The punishment of it 
is, the loss of credit, the hatred of those whom we have 
deceived, and an eternal separation from God. Rev. xxi. 
8 ; xxii. 15 ; Psalm ci. 1 ; Jer. ix. 3 ; Amos ii. 4 ; Zech. 
viii. 16, n. 

A properly brought up child is always obedient to his 
parents, and hates idleness and lying, because he knows 
that while the one " shall clothe a man Avith rags," the 
other will bring him to shame, and sink his soul in eter- 
nal ruin. Prov. xxiii, 21 ; Rev. xxi. 8. He never takes 
the name of God in vain, or utters any oath or degrading 
expression, because he know^s that all blasphemers, 
swearers, liars, and filthy talkers are children of the 
devil, and will be with him, in his " own place," when 
they die. Levit. xxiv. 10-16; Zech. v. 3, 4; John viii. 
44 ; Eph. ii. 2 ; 2 Peter ii. 4-8 ; Rev. xxi. 8 ; xxii. 11, 15. 
He never throws stones at other children, or at animals, 
or birds, because he knows that none but the most de- 
praved children are ever guilty of such ungodly and un- 
neighborly conduct. He is cleanly and neat in person, 
and mannerly, and learns his lessons cheerfully, because 
he loves God, and his parents, and hopes to become a 
useful and respected member of Christian society. He 



OBEDIEXCE TO PARENTS. 153 

not only renders cheerful obedience to his parents, but 
makes them repositories of all his secrets. There is 
nothing clandestine in his movements. He takes no 
step without consulting them. He tells them all his 
})lans and all his troubles, and seeks their advice in 
everything. He is not smitten or carried awa}^ with the 
attention of strangers, for he knows "not the voice of 
strangers." He allows no human being to alienate his 
interest from his parents ; nor does he set up a separate 
interest under the idea of personal independence. He 
goes with his parents to the Sanctuary, unites his re- 
ligious sympathies with theirs, and listens to the truth 
as it is in Jesus, — as it is in the Evangelical or New 
Testament churches. Principle, not fashion or caprice, 
governs his movements in these respects. His likes and 
dislikes are all sacrificed on the altar of filial affection. 
He knows if he is led hither and thither as fashion or 
caprice or self-indulgence may prompt, he will find ere 
many years are passed over his head, that his course, 
like that of Esau, may bring upon him consequences 
which he will have reason to deplore whilst 3^et there is 
left no space for repentance. Heb. xii. 16, IT; Prov. i. 
24-28; Levit. xix. 3; Deut. v. 16. 

Thrice happy is the youth, 

Who, morning, noon, and night, 
Reads the blest page of sacred truth, 

And makes it his delight; — 

He loves the hour of prayer, 

And takes delight in praise : 
The Lord to bless him will be near 

With sanctifying grace. 



154 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

Uiidutiful or vile children, fill the minds of all good 
men with loathing and horror; and they are objects of 
still more abhorrence to God than men. Deut. xxi. 18- 
21 ; 1 Sam. iii. 10-14 ; 2 Kings ii. 23, 24. It is written 
of the parents of such children, as well as the children 
themselves, that '' The shew of their countenance doth 
witness against them ; and they declare their sin as 
Sodom, they hide it not." Tsaiah iii. 9; Ezek. xvi. 19; 2 
Peter ii. 1, 8. When wicked behaviour, or irreligious 
practices, have gained such headway as to destroy the 
beauty of the countenance, what must be the condition of 
the soul of such a person ? But, thanks be to God, the 
religion of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ is able to 
change the boldness of the most repulsive face, and 
make it shine with beams of heavenly beauty. Eccles. 
viii. 1 : Prov. xx. 11 ; Matt. vii. 16. By these never- 
failing indications we are able to distinguish the children 
of Light from the children of darkness. The parents of 
the latter " hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they 
abhor him that speaketh uprightly." Like the children 
of Belial in the days of Jeremiah the prophet, they say, 
'' Come, let us smite him with the tongue, and not give 
heed to any of his words." The Psalmist, speaking of 
this class of men, says, " Hide me from the secret coun- 
sel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers 
of iniquity : who whet their tongue like a sword, and 
bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: 
that they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly 
do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage 



OBEUIEN-CE TO PAKENTS. 155 

themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying 
snares privily ; they say, Who shall see them ?" A 
dreadful doom awaits such men. Deut. xxxii. 35 ; Job 
xxi. 30, 31 ; Psalm xi. 6 ; Matt. xxv. 41-46 ; 2 Peter ii. 
4-12: Jude 5-8; Rev. xxi. 8. 

There is one clear and distinct ground upon which we 
may limit the application of a precept that is couched in 
absolute language — the unlaw^fulness, in any given con- 
jecture, of obeying it. " Submit yourselves to every 
ordinance of man." 1 Peter ii. 13. This, literally, is an 
unconditional command. But if we were to obey it un- 
conditionally, we should sometimes comply with human, 
in opposition to Divine laws. In such cases, then, the 
obligation is clearly suspended ; and this distinction the 
teachers of Christianity recognized in their practice. 
When "an ordinance of man" required them to forbear 
the promulgation of the doctrines of the New Testament, 
they refused obedience ; and urged the befitting expostu- 
lation — "Whether it be right in the sight of God to 
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye." Acts 
iv. 19. They accordingly "entered into the temple early 
in the morning and taught;" and when, subsequently, 
they were again brought before the council and interro- 
gated, they replied, " We ought to obey God rather than 
men;" and notwithstanding the renewed command of 
the council, " daily in the temple and in every house, 
they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Acts 
V. 29, 42. So, too, with the filial relationship : " Children, 
obey your parents in all things." Col/iii. 20. But a pa^ 



156 OBEDIENCE TO PAKENTS. 

rent may require his child to go to the rum-shop for 
liquor; to lie, steal, or go with him to an infidel meeting, 
the theatre, dance-house, or some other place of debauch- 
ery, and therefore when a parent requires obedience in 
such things his authority ceases, and the obligation to 
obedience is taken away by the moral law itself. The 
precept is virtually this : Obey your parents in all things, 
unless disobedience is required by the will of God ; and 
that is so clearly set forth in the Bible, that " wayfaring 
men, though fools, shall not err therein." All human 
authority ceases at the point where obedience becomes 
criminal. We have clear illustrations of this in the fol- 
lowing passages of Scripture : — 

"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy 
daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as 
thine own soul, entice thee, saying, Let us go and serve other 
gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers ; namely, 
of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto 
thee, or far from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto 
the other end of the earth ; thou shalt not consent unto him, nor 
hearken unto him ; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt 
thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: but thou shalt surely 
kill him ; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, 
and afterward the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone 
him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust 
thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the 
land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall 
hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this 
among you." (Deut. xiii. 6-11; Jer. xvii. 5.) Again, "He that 
loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of me : and 
he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me. 
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me is not 
worthy of me." 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 157 

God manifests his abhorrence of \Yicked children in 
these words : **If a man have a stubborn and rebellious 
son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the 
voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened 
him, will not hearken unto them, then shall his father 
and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto 
the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place ; and 
they shall say unto the elders of his city. This our son is 
stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice ; he 
is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his 
city shall stone him with stones that he die : so shall 
thou put. evil away from among you ; all Israel shall 
hear, and fear." Deut. xxi. 18-21 ; Prov. xxii. 6 'f Eccles. 
iv. 13. 

The Scriptures declare that no drunkard or profane 
swearer shall inherit the kingdom of God. There is no 
limitation to this edict, — it is absolutely positive. How 
then shall we estimate the nature of those vices, which 
doom their perpetrators to hell ? The man who takes 
my little son, whom I love as I love myself, and strikes 
into his throbbing heart an assassin's knife, and draws it 
forth reeking with his innocent blood, and hurls in my 
face the murdered child and the fatal weapon with which 
the murderous blow was inflicted, commits a deed which 
causes every impulse and sensibility of my nature to re- 
coil in agony far too intense for language to describe. 
The eye turns instinctively from it as something too 
horrible to be seen, and it is enough to madden any fond 

parent's brain. But the man who seduces this same 
14 



158 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

child into the haunts of vice — who leads him into the 
path of moral obliquity from God — who puts to his lips 
the poisoned chalice, drugged with spiritual death, and 
constrains or induces him to drink it — that man perpe- 
trates a deed, in the sight of God, far more hideous in its 
natuie than the other — far more revolting to the pious 
parent's heart — far more ruinous in its consequences. 
He is a murderer of deeper dye, for he is a murderer of 
the soul. Far better that my dear child had perished by 
the vile assassin's hand — far better that I had felt the 
delirium of agony over his mangled, bleeding remains, 
and enjoyed the conviction that his spirit had gone, re- 
deemed by Christ, to his heavenly Father, than that I 
should be compelled to witness him a moral suicide, 
" without God and without hope in the world." 

The late celebrated Benjamin Rush, M. D., of Phila- 
delphia, speaking of the effects of ardent spirits upon the 
human body and mind, said, "This odious disease of 
drunkenness — for by that name it should be called — 
appears with more or less of the following symptoms, 
and most commonly in the order in which I shall 
enumerate them: 

1. Unusual garrulity. 

2. Unusual silence. 

3. Captiousness, or a disposition to find fault and 
quarrel. 

4. Uncommon good-humor, and an insipid simpering 
or laugh. 

5. Profane swearing and cursing. 



OBEDIEXCE TO PARENTS. 159 

6. A disclosure of their own and other people's secrets. 

7. A rude disposition to tell those persons in company 
whom they know, their faults. 

8. Certain immodest actions. 

9. Clipping of words. 

10. Fighting ; a black eye, or a swelled nose. 

11. Certain extravagant acts which indicate a tempo- 
rary fit of madness. These are singing vile ballads or 
songs, hallooing, roaring, imitating the noises of four- 
legged brutes, jumping, tearing off clothes, dancing naked, 
breaking glasses and china, and dashing other articles of 
household furniture upon the ground or floor. After a 
while the paroxysm of drunkenness is completely formed. 
The face now becomes flushed, the eyes project, and are 
somewhat watery, winking is less frequent than is natu- 
ral ; the under lip is protruded or stuck out — the head 
inclines a little to one shoulder — the jaw falls — belching 
and hiccough take place — the limbs totter — the whole 
body staggers, and the wretched man soon falls on his 
seat. He now looks around him with a vacant counte- 
nance, mutters inarticulate sounds to himself, and 
attempts to rise and walk, but falls upon his side, from 
which he gradually turns upon his back. He now closes 
his eyes and falls into a profound sleep, frequently 
attended with loud snoring, and profuse sweats. In 
this condition he often lies one, two, three, four, and five 
days, an object of pity and disgust to his injured family 
and friends. His recovery from this fit of intoxication 
is marked with several peculiar appearances He opens 



IGO OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

his eyes and closes them again — he gapes and stretches 
his limbs — he rises with difficulty, and staggers to a 
chair — his eyes resemble balls of fire — his hands tremble 
— he loathes the sight of food — he calls for a glass of 
whiskey and a red herring to ' compose ' his stomach ! — 
now and then he emits a deep-fetched sigh, or groan, 
from a transient twinge of conscience ; but he more fre- 
quently scolds, and curses his wife and children, and 
everything around him. In this stage of languor and 
stupidity he remains for two or three days, before he is 
able to resume his work." 

Thomas Sewall, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and 
Physiology in the Columbian College, Washington City, 
D. C, speaking of the effects of ardent spirits upon the 
human body and mind, said, '' On examining the lungs 
of the drunkard after death, they are frequently found 
adhering to the walls of the chest ; hepatized, or affected 
with tubercles. The drunkard dies easily, and from 
slight causes. A sudden cold, a pleurisy, a fever, a 
fractured limb, or a slight wound of the skin is often 
more than his shattered powers can endure. Even a 
little excess of exertion, an exposure to heat or cold, a 
hearty repast, or a glass of cold water, not unfrequently 
extinguishes the small remains of the vital principle. 
Many of those deaths which came under my notice 
seemed almost spontaneous, and some of them took 
place in less than one hour from the first symptoms of 
indisposition." "But time would fail me were I to at- 
tempt an account of half the pathology of drunkenness. 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 161 

And who is the responsible author of all this ? I appeal 
to any fellow-citizen. Are not we the authors ? The 
power emanates from us ; we delegate it to the consti- 
tuted authorities, and we say to them, ' Go on ; cast fire- 
))rands, arrows, and death; and let the blood of those 
liiat perish be on us and on our children.' Every mem- 
ber of society is morally and politically constituted, by 
the relations he sustains, his 'brother's keeper.' To 
deny this position is to assume grounds with Cain, the 
first raiu'derer." 

No human being sujffers alone. He is a member of a 
body politic, and as such, contributes his pains to others, 
according to the more or less intimate relationship exist- 
ing between them. If he has submitted himself to be 
victimized by a ruinous appetite or passion, and falls 
into sin, he draws others with him to participate in the 
Avoes consequent upon his transgressions, though they 
may not be involved in his personal guilt. Considering 
the frightful crimes which the sale of intoxicating drinks 
is the direct or incidental cause, there is not an intelli- 
gent man who will not declare it the most immoral and 
demoralizing business that is pursued on earth. The 
injury it inflicts on the buyer, the seller, and society, is, 
in fact immeasurable and incalculable. It is wide-spread, 
overwhelming, appalling. Terms are too weak to express 
it: the reality far exceeds any epithets which can be 
employed to describe it. The earth groans under it. 
Man cries to man and to heaven for deliverance from it. 
The bodies of some drunkards have been so thoroughly 
14* 



162 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

Steeped in spirit as literally to take lire and consume to 
ashes. There is doubtless far more danger than has been 
imagined, in a drunkard's bringing his mouth or nose 
near a lighted taper. The wonder is that instances of 
combustion are not of daily occurrence. Medical writers 
cite numerous cases. Ploquet mentions twenty-eight. 

The family circle are most interested in the reforma- 
tion of that individual of their number who has become 
addicted to vice of any description, because they are most 
directly involved in the evils which such vice produces ; 
and next to the family circle, the community in which 
the criminal has his residence are implicated most in the 
consequences of his crimes, and have the greatest amount 
of interest in his recovery from his destructive habits. 
But this is not all. Power to reform is proportionate to 
the interest involved. The mutual influence, either for 
good or evil, inherent in the family constitution, is 
almost omnipotent. If this influence be exerted aright, 
and perseveringly exerted, for the reformation of the 
inebriate, it can seldom fail of success. But if the mem- 
bers of the family circle neglect, or refuse, to exercise the 
reforming power with which they have been endowed, 
then are th'ey responsible for the whole amount of such 
neglect, or refusal. The same remarks, substantially, 
are appropriate to the community. It is their duty, as 
well as their interest, that every member should regard 
the public laws, and lead a virtuous life. 

A fearful doom awaits the drunkard and the profane 
swearer. They are classed with the abominable, with 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 163 

thieves, murderers, whoremongers, and liars. AVhat end 
does the profane swearer propose to himself? Does he 
suppose his neighbor will believe him any sooner, because 
he affirms his word by an oath ? Mistaken man ! He 
who has so little reverence for God, as to take his name 
in vain, will not think it dishonorable to lie, if he think 
it will answer his selfish purposes. Does he think it 
becoming a gentleman to trifle thus with the tremendous 
name of God ? Alas ! how degraded must be the state 
of society if profane swearing will add to the dignity of 
a man's character ! Thank God, it is believed that the 
generality of men have more exalted ideas of the proper 
dignity of man, than to suppose that such conduct will 
elevate him in the estimation of his fellow-citizens. 
*' Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh 
his name in vain." Exod. xx. 1. "And the Lord spake 
unto Moses, saying. Bring forth him that cursed without 
the camp ; and let all that heard him lay their hands 
upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him." 
Levit. xxiv. 13, 14. " Because of swearing the land 
mourneth." Jer. xxiii. 10; Hosea iv. 23. "As I live, saith 
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live : 
turn ye, turn from your evil ways ; for why will ye die ?*' 
Ezek. xxxiii. 11 ; Isaiah i. 18 ; Prov. i. 24-28; Luke xv. 10. 
The thoughts of such goodness abused, and such amazing 
clemency affronted, seem to the awakened sinner almost as 
insupportable as those of God's wrath and severity; and 



10 i OBEDIENCE TO TAllEXTS. 

he exclaims, in the anguish of his soul, "Oh, whither shall 
I turn ? I dare not look upward: the sun and stars upbraid 
me there. If I look downward, the fields and fountains take 
their Creator's part, and heaven and earth conspire to ag- 
gravate my sins. Those common blessings tell me how 
much I am indebted to thy bounty. Oh, in what delirium 
has my life been passed ! what have I been doing ! 

"When I look back on my former days, 
The only comfort the review affords 
Is, that they're past. 

For through their course I cannot recollect 
One free from sorrow, guilt, or disappointment : 
Yet heedless still through the same paths I stray, 
And rashly venture on the dangerous road ; 
With open eyes, like one asleep I walk, 
And drink the cup, although I know 'tis poison'd. 
Why am I led thus captive by my will. 
While Reason, faithful guide, forever warns 
My drowsy soul to shun impending danger? 
This night may be my last; I ne'er again 
May see the dawning of another morn : 
Shall I forego the joys of heaven, to soothe 
A wayward fancy or destructive passion ? 
Ah, no!" 

" And when lie came to himself, he said, How many hired 
servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, 
and I perish with hunger ! I will arise and go to my 
father, and will say unto him. Father, I have sinned against 
heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be 
called thy son : make me as one of thy hired servants." 
(See Luke xv. 17-24.) 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS, CONTINUED. 

Susceptibility of the young mind to evil impressions— The Christian 
family— A dying mother's last words to her son— The remembrance of 
her great love for him brings tears in his eyes — The boy who is "toe 
big" to obey his mother— What Christ, the King of kings and Lord of 
lords did — The Bible knows no to-morrow— " Thinking about it" — A 
limit to provocation. 

The second generation of " badly brought up children" 
will be invariably worse than the first, for parents who 
were not, themselves, obedient and properly trained in 
childhood, however much they may wish to perform 
their duty toward their own children, will be impotent 
to secure obedience, for there is no law more immutable 
than this, that persons can not govern who have not, 
themselves, been governed. It is no exaggeration to 
say, that the developments of right moral and -eligious 
character is wholly the work of education and religious 
nurture: meaning, by these terms, not the training of 
the parent and teacher only, but also the agency of cir- 
cumstances, — whilst the force of example and association 
alone, independent of all direct inculcation, is sufficient 
to impress upon the child's plastic nature, any form of 
vice and ungodliness. Let him grow up among idolaters. 

and that circumstance ensures his being a devotee to 

(1G5) 



1(U) OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

false gods, and the deadly foe of all true piety and virtue. 
Life among the Fejees would infallibly eonvert the child 
of Christian parents into a cannibal. Give your babe to be 
nursed and trained in an infidel family, and he will, with- 
out some strong remedial or preventing influence from 
better sources, grow up to be an enemy and a contemner 
of Christ. Nurtured in a den of thieves, or smugglers, 
or robbers, he will feel neither horror nor disapprobation 
of the atrocious crimes with which he is constantly 
familiar ; and to become the most daring and expert of 
the gang will, in all probability, be the highest aspiration 
ever felt by his blighted spirit. Without going beyond 
the limits of our own neighborhood, or perhaps twenty 
yards from the door of the church where we pay our 
adoration to God, we may find scores of vile, hardened 
boys and girls, with whom we could not allow our child 
to play in the streets, without feeling a certainty that he 
would become, like them, a reckless vagrant. 

Such is the susceptibility of the young mind to evil 
impressions : and it inculcates a Christian lesson upon 
all parents who have hearts, to care for the immortal 
destinies of their children, more influential than ten thou- 
sand arguments. 

A family where all the members of it live in love and 
peace, is like a little heaven below. Love and kindness 
are the tempers Avhich Jesus delights to see us cultivate ; 
and these are the tempers, too, which the Holy Spirit 
produces in all who truly love God and keep his com- 
mandments " Heaven, I know," said a dying Christian 



OBEDIEXCE TO FAREXTS. 167 

mother to her only son, " will bless so good a son as you 
have been to me. You will have that consolation, my 
son, which visits but few — you will be able to look back 
upon your past conduct to me, not without pain only, 
but with a holy joy. * * * Do not be so afflicted, my 
son, at the loss of me. We are not to part for ever." 
Poor boy! In after years, speaking of his infant recol- 
lections, he says : 

" The mere tliougLt, 
Of her great love for me has often brought 
Tears in my eyes. Though far away, 
It seems as it were yesterday. 
And just as when I looked on high 
Through the blue silence of the sky, 
Fresh stars shine out, and more and more 
Where I could see so few before ; 
So the more steadily I gaze 
Upon those far-off misty days, 
Fresh words, fresh tones, fresh mem'ries start. 
Before my eyes and in my heart." 

Ah, yes, the remembrance of the scenes of his youth 
now appear to him like far visions of happiness. His 
dearj dear mother died whilst he was yet young. He 
now looks upon the time, as upon a vision of devotion 
commingled with love, when he saw her oft upon her 
knees, in secret prayer. He heard her pray, not for her- 
self alone, but for him, and sent up his name in earnest 
supplication to her heavenly Father. She asked — with 
tears streaming down her cheeks — the God of salvation 
to bless him, her then hope and delight, whilst he won- 
dered to whom his mother was addressing herself, for he 



168 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

saw no one in the room besides himself, and she was not 
speaking to him, but about him. He now remembers the 
impressive sight he witnessed, as he entered her death- 
chamber, — her pale and haggard countenance ; her 
sickly, failing eye, with which she looked out upon him 
from her dying pillow, as if from the very confines of 
the eternal world. He remembers how thin and how 
pale the hand was with which she pressed his, when she 
bade him a sorrowful adieu ; and how agonizingly anxious 
that look was with which she gazed into his face, and 
charged him, in the name of her blessed Lord and 
Saviour, to wrestle with God day and night for the sal- 
vation of his soul, and to seek through the blood of Jesus 
for the pardon of his sins. He remembers that he saw 
his dear mother die, and go the way of all the earth, and 
that he attended, with others, her funeral. He saw the 
newly opened grave, and the coffin, the lid of which hid 
from his view the changed countenance of his best 
earthly friend, and he weeps tears of bitter anguish. 
He remembers also seeing the grave filled up, and the 
tears of sympathizing friends, who, with him, encircled 
the grave, and then left his dear, dear mother there in 
the narrow bed of death. Poor boy! poor boy I how 
we feel for you in your sore bereavement. 

The boy who is " too big" to obey his mother is in a 
most dangerous state of mind. Think of Christ, the 
"King of kings and Lord of lords." When he sat with 
the learned doctors in the temple at Jerusalem, he was 
not too old and too wise to obey his mother. Badly 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 169 

brought up children may be known by their rude un- 
mannerly behaviour to each other, to their neighbors, 
and to strangers. On the other hand, Christian children 
are not only civil and mannerly to all, but love God, and 
their parents. All such children know that " the fear 
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ;" and that 
wisdom is more precious than "jewels of fine gold," 
(Job xxviii. 17, 28; Prov. iii. 13-24; Jer. ix. 23, 24; 
Colos. ii. 3 ; Eph. iii. 18, 19 ;) because it confers happi- 
ness that all the jewels and gold in the world could not 
confer : a happiness " which passeth knowledge," — a 
happiness "unspeakable and full of glory." 

The mouth of the wicked "is full of cursing and 
deceit and fraud ; under his tongue is mischief and 
vanity. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten : 
he hideth his face ; he will never see it." Psalm x. 4, Y, 
11; Eccles. xii. 14. Ah, there is no escape from His 
all-seeing eye. Psalm cxxxix. 4-12; Luke xii. 2, 3. 
" Understand, ye brutish among the people ; and ye fools, 
when will ye be wise ? He that planteth the ear, shall 
he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not 
see?" Psalm xciv. 89; 1 Sam. ix. 15-21; x. 2-16; 1 
Chron. xxviii. 9 ; 2 Kings vi. 12 ; Eccles. v. 6 ; x. 20. 
" O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou 
knowest my downsitting and mine uprising ; thou under- 
standest my thought afar off. Thou compasseth my 
path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my 
ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O 
Lord, thou knowest it altogether." Psalm cxxxix. 1-4; 
15 



170 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS, 

Job xlii. 1 ; 2 Chron. xvi. 9 ; John i. 48, 49 ; Hebrews 
iv 13. 

Father of Spirits, nature's God, 

Our thoughts are known to thee ; 
Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle word. 

And every action see. 

Could we on morning's swiftest wings. 

Fly through the trackless air. 
Or dive beneath deep ocean's springs, 

Thy presence would he there. 

In vain may guilt attempt to fly, 

Conceal'd by darkest night ; 
One glance from thy all-piercing eye 

Can bring it all to light. 

In the concerns of the soul the Bible knows of no to- 
morrow. God's calls are meant at once to be answered. 
Men are ready every moment of their lives for heaven 
or hell, and should death overtake them while they are 
parleying, a fearful doom awaits them. There is no 
guarantee in the Scriptures, that the invitation will ever 
be repeated, and eternal ruin will be the just punishment 
of a single rejection. You put off this most solemn duty, 
and then protest against and flatter yourself that the 
excuse is sufficient. But this will not answer. You are 
bound to resolve this question as soon as it is presented 
for your consideration. Everything else should be post- 
poned until it is settled. But perhaps you reply that 
you " have thought it over, but cannot come to any con- 
clusion." You are deceived; you are tampering with 
the salvation of your soul. It is not because you can- 
not, but because you will not. " Thinking about it," 



OBEDIENCE TO PAKENTS. 171 

without acting, is easy, for it involves the performance 
of no duty. Reason and conscience both tell you what 
you ought to do — but that is unpalatable, and 3^ou fail 
in coming to a conclusion, because you have no real 
inclination to attain any, and hence upon a false basis 
over your inability to reach any fixed and definite pur- 
pose ! Rest assured that all the "thinking" in the 
world will accomplish nothing. Nothing but the stern 
resolve to give up all and follow Christ, can avail you. 
Indecision only begets indecision. The more you " think 
it over," the more irresolute you are. Serious impres- 
sions become fainter and fainter as you thus trifle, and 
you are at last so familiarized with them, that they lose 
their force, and are the more easily dismissed as unwel- 
come visitors that disturb your "peace." Isaiah Ivii. 21 ; 
Prov. i. 24-28. 

There is a limit to provocation, be3^ond which the 
merc}^ of God does not extend. That limit, once reached, 
the Lord declares the sinner's doom, in these words, 
" Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched 
out My hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have set at 
naught all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: 
I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when 
your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction 
Cometh as a whirlwind ; when distress and anguish 
cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I 
will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall 
not find me : for they that hated knowledge, and did not 
choose the fear of the Lord : they would none of My 



172 OBEDIENCE TO PAKENTS. 

counsel: they despised all My reproof. Therefore shall 
they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with 
their own devices." 

We see, then, that there is a Voice pleading against sin 
in every soul, till it is silenced by persistent disregard 
and determined transgression. Beside the innate corrup- 
tion of a wicked heart, there is a malignant power, a 
seducing and deluding Devil. The existence of the devil 
is as distinctly afi&rmed in the Scriptures as the existence 
of God, and his influences in life are as evident. His 
name, his nature, his personality, his power, are as posi- 
tively revealed as the name and personality and power 
of the Almighty. With an eye that never sleeps, with 
a foot that never wearies, with a breath that never fails, 
hungering for the souls of men, he hunts them steadily — 
a true slow-hound that never bays, but runs silently on 
the trail with superhuman sagacity. But the devil is not 
the only foe. This great hunter of souls has innume- 
rable packs of human hounds. Bad men and bad women, 
"evil men and seducers," as St. Paul calls them. They 
swarm everywhere in all the nations of the world ; and, 
having given, up their own souls to the Devil, they de- 
light to help him to secure others. So completely are 
such people blinded by their infernal master, that they 
mistake his operations for the spontaneous movements 
of their own will! They walk according to ''the Prince 
of the power of the air," and they are not conscious of 
the fact, — their work is so entirely according to the de- 
sire of their own hearts. Eph. ii. 2, 3 ; John viii. 42-44. 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 173 

The people of the antediluvian world, and of Sodom and 
Gomorrah, worshipped at Satan's shrine, until the out- 
raged patience of heaven -would no longer bear their pro- 
vocations. Gen. vii. 21-23 ; xix. 24-28 ; Ezek. xvi. 49, 50 ; 
2 Peter ii. 4-1 0. 

The place where the wicked shall be punished, is re- 
presented in the Scriptures under a variety of figures, 
expressive of its awfulness. It is called " the bottomless 
pit," Rev. iii. 20; ''a furnace of fire," Matt. xiii. 42,- 50; 
"a lake of fire and brimstone," Rev. xxi. 8; "hell," 
Matt, xxiii. 33 ; Mark ix. 4T, 48 ; " outer darkness," Matt, 
viii. 12 ; Psalm xlix. 19 ; Jer. xiii. 14-16 ; " eternal fire," 
Jude vii. The misery of the wicked in this place, is 
described in the strongest terms, and by the most dread- 
ful figures. The nature of hell's torments is represented 
not only by the worm that never dieth, but also by the 
fire that "shall never be quenched." In another place, 
it is declared, not only that the punishment shall be for- 
ever, but "forever and ever." Rev. xiv. 11; xx. 10. The 
expression "forever and ever," must certainly mean an 
infinite duration of time ; for the Bible contains no higher 
expression to signify the eternity of God himself, than 
that of his being "forever and ever." Rev. iv. 9. 

Oh, the anguish of the wicked when the Lord Jesus 

shall pronounce the fearful sentence, " Depart from Me, 

ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and 

his angels ! " Oh, what wailing ! what fearful cries ! 

Lost ! lost ! forever and ever ! Xo more Bibles ! no 

more Tracts ! no more Sabbaths ! no more Sunday- 
15* 



174 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 

schools ! no more invitations to come to Christ ! no more 
strivings of the Spirit of God ! no more hopes of heaven! 
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
" The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are 
not saved.-' Jer. viii. 20; Prov. i. 24-28; 2 Thess. i. 1- 
9. In that day, the righteous Judge of all the earth 
" shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 
in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not 
God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruc- 
tion from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory 
of his power." 

Oh, what agonies shall it not cause when parents 
meet the children on whose souls they had no pity, the 
children whom they never brought to the Saviour, the 
children unprayed for, untaught to pray for themselves ! 
Who shall describe the meeting of such parents and 
their children in an eternal hell, with " the devil and his 
angels," and all the damned since the death of Cain — 
the first murderer, to that day? Oh, how they will wish 
they had never been born ! How they will wish to teai 
out their memories ! They will seek death, but it will flee 
from them. Oh, how it will pierce their souls to have 
their children challenge them in that day, and say, to 
them, one by one : 

''Had you been as careful to teach me the knowledge 
of the Lord as I was capable of learning : had you been 
as forward to instruct me in my duties as I was ready to 
have hearkened, it had not been with me as it is this day. 



OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. 175 

If you had by your own good example, and the use of 
the rod, restrained me in my wickedness, instead of 
encouraging me therein, by your filthy conversation, 
profanity, and unlawful deeds, I had not now stood 
trembling here in fearful expectation of the eternal doom 
which is just ready to be passed upon me. It is to you 
that I must in a great measure owe my everlasting ruin. 
Unnatural w^retch ! that has thus destroyed those whose 
happiness by so many bonds of duty and affection you 
were commanded by the Word of God to promote. Be- 
hold ! the books are now o-pen, and there is not one 
prayer — one heartfelt prayer — upon record that you ever 
put up for me ! There is no memorial ; no, not so much 
as one hour that ever was seriously spent to train me up 
to a sense of God, and to a knowledge of my duty to 
God ; but, on the contrary, it appears that you have in 
many ways contrived my misery, and contributed to my 
ruin, and helped forward my damnation. 

" Good men often spoke to you about my vile behavior 
and profanity, and with tears in their eyes implored you 
to restrain me in my wicked practices, but in vain ! You 
abused and slandered them, because they told you the 
truth, and the ruin you were bringing upon your child- 
ren, by your unchristian conduct. You lied, jested and 
ridiculed sacred things, and so did I. You took the 
name of God in vain, and so did I. You profaned the 
Sabbath, and annoyed your Christian neighbors with 
swearing and cursing, and so did I. You spent your 
evenings in prowling about the streets, and making a 



176 OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS* 

noise like a dog, and so did I. You rejected the Bible, 
and spent your time and money in the perusal of infidel 
books and pamphlets, and other lying and filthy publica- 
tions, and so did I. You vilified Christ and his minis- 
ters and people, and so did I. You patronized the 
theatre, the rum-shop, the dance-house, and other places 
of debauchery, and so did I, Oh, how could you be so 
cruel, — how could you thus hate your own flesh, and 
hate your own soul ? Oh, how much better had it been 
for me, and how much better for you, that we had never 
been born! I was ignorant, and you instructed me not ; 
I made myself vile, and you restrained me not ! Why 
did you not teach me at home, and bring me to the pub- 
lic ordinances and worship of Grod, and train me up to 
the exercise of true piety and devotion ? But you not 
only neglected and refused to give me good instruction, 
but you gave me bad example : and lo ! I have followed 
you to hell, to be an addition to your torments for ever 
and ever. 

"My day's forever gone, my sun is set 
In final darkness, ne'er to rise again ; 
My summer's spent, eternal winter's come ; 
The season's past. 

On me no ray of mercy e'er will shine, 
No smiling hope will ever rise ; 
Justice divine, and self-condemning guilt, 
Consign me to eternal wo." 



CHAPTER IX. 

FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

The grave — The Christian family never grows less — Anxiety of the 
blest for the safety of their relations and friends — The Indian mother — 
The withered blossoms will bloom again — The cloud of witnesses — The 
loved ones of my childhood's days — The true Soldier of the Cross no 
believer in second causes — Extravagant desires — Conflicts and trials — 
Impatience and murmuring — The changed Cross — The bodies of the 
saints — Abel and his harp — Sings the song of redeeming love — The faith 
of the saints of old — The music of Heaven — Unspeakable happiness of 
the redeemed — "I long to be there" — The Angels: their power and 
glory — The "house" of "many mansions" in full view — Home at last — 
The meeting of death-divided friends — The Saviour's amazing love. 

The grave becomes another and a holier thing to the 
Christian family, after it has received its first inmate. 
There is a kind relationship instituted, which tends to 
remove the repulsion and estrangement which existed 
before. Heaven has a new attraction to the Christian 
wife, when it has become the home of her husband or 
child. Eternity seems a warmer and more cheerful ob- 
ject of thought, when it has been made a part of home 
by the removal of part of the family to it. The thought 
of regaining the companionship of those whom we loved 
on earth, attaches time to eternity, and this life becomes 
what it really is, a beginning, and part of another. Dear 
friends are removed from sight, but they still live and 
love. 

(177) 



178 FAMILY BEEEAVEMENTS. 

Ill the view of faith a Christian family never grows 
less ; nor is its golden chain, though part of it lie under 
the shadow, ever broken. The departure of those whom 
we loved on earth, does for us what the departure of the 
strangers from heaven did to the disciples on the mount 
of transfiguration, — it leaves us alone with " Jesus only." 
It turns into deep experience that longing for home con- 
tained in the Apostle's words, " having a desire to depart 
and be with Christ, which is far better." Why then 
should Christian parents repine that Jesus takes their 
" little ones" from their unsafe guardianship, and folds 
them in the " everlasting Arms" forever ? But it is hard 
to get any father or mother to subscribe to this Bible 
doctrine ; they will not believe that a little one of theirs 
has aught but a bright life before him. Children are 
often the hands by which the parents take hold of 
heaven. By these tendrils they grasp it and climb 
thitherward. And why do they think they are separated 
from them ? Ah, they never half knew them. " If the 
rich man," says an able Christian writer, " in the regions 
of the lost, asked that a messenger might be sent to his 
'five brethren,' to warn them not to come to that place, 
may we not with greater reason, believe that the blest 
in Christ are equally anxious for the safe arrival there of 
those that they have left behind ? Yes, they plead in the 
silent eloquence of their love and lovehness." 

Mr. Kirk, in his " Mother of the Wesleys," says, "Mrs. 
Wesley's affection for her father was intense and constant. 
She cherished his memory and meditated upon his saintly 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS 179 

character to her latest hour. Sometimes she felt a peculiar 
nearness to him, as though she held converse with his as- 
cended spirit. Her son John heard her say that she was 
frequently as fully persuaded that her father was with her 
as if she had seen him with her bodily eyes. She left her 
statement without any explanation; but her real views may 
be elicited from her writings. When speaking of the mys- 
terious noises at Epworth parsonage, she observes, "I am 
rather inclined to think there would be frequent intercourse 
between good spirits and us, did not our deep lapse into sen- 
suality prevent it." (See Rom. viii. 7-13; 1 Cor. ix. 24- 
27; 1 Pet. ii. 11; and 1 John ii. 15, 16.) The following 
remarkable passage in her beautiful and masterly exposition 
of the Apostles' Creed still more fully explains her mean- 
ing: — " What knowledge the saints in heaven have of things 
or persons in this world we cannot determine; nor after 
what manner we hold communion with them, it is not, at 
present, easy to conceive. That we are all members of the 
same mystical body, Christ, we are very sure; and do all 
partake of the same vital influence from the same Head; 
and so we are united together. And, though we are not 
actually possessed of the same happiness which they enjoy, 
yet we have the same Holy Spirit given unto us as an 
earnest of our eternal felicity with them hereafter. And 
though their faith is consummated by vision, and their hope 
by present possession, yet the bond of Christian charity still 
remains. And as we have great joy and complacency in 
their society, so, no doubt, they desire and pray for us." 
Though not prepared to explain the manner in which 



180 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

the intercourse is carried on, Mrs. Wesley clearly held the 
doctrine of spiritual communion with departed saints 
This theory, so enchanting and soothing to those whose 
friends have departed hence in the Lord, has been received 
by many devout and able divines. There are also unmis- 
takable indications that it was regarded with favor by Mrs. 
Wesley's gifted sons. After Charles has sung his noble 
hymns of triumph over the exodus of some of his saintly 
friends, he is not slow to tell us that, in his public and pri- 
vate meditations, he felt communion with them. 

It was John Wesley's constant custom to preach on All 
Saints' Day — one of his favorite Church festivals — on 
communion with the heavenly multitude. He declares also 
that he many times realized such a sudden and lively appre- 
hension of deceased friends that he turned round to look 
if they were not actually and visibly present at his side, 
and "an uncommon affection for them" sprung up in his 
heart. In his dreams of the night he sometimes held 
"conversations with them," and doubted not that "they 
were very near." There is a striking illustration of one of 
the " conversations" in the following passage from the Life 
of Mrs. Fletcher: — "Last night I had a powerful sense, in 
my sleep, of the presence of my dear husband. I felt such 
sweet communion with his spirit as gave me much peaceful 
feeling. I had for some days thought that I was called to 
resist more than I did that strong and lively remembrance 
of the various scenes, both of his last sickness and many 
other circumstances which frequently occurred, with much 
pain. This thought being present to my mind, I looked on 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 181 

him. He said, with a sweet smile, • It is better to forget.' 
' What,' said I, ' my dear love, to forget one another ?' He 
replied, with inexpressible sweetness, ' It is better to forget. 
It will not be long. We shall not be parted long. We 
shall soon meet again.' He then signified, though not in 
words, that all weights should be laid aside." 

The Apostle Paul tells us that "The natural maji re- 
ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are 
foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual 
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." 
(1 Cor. ii. 14, 15.) In another place, alluding to the glo- 
ries of heaven, he says, "It is not expedient for me doubt- 
less to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the 
Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, 
whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the 
body I cannot tell; God knoweth: such a one caught up 
to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, whether in 
the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth: 
how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeak- 
able words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of 
such a one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory, but 
in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I 
shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth : but now I for- 
bear, lest any man should think of me above that which he 
seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me." 

A certain dear soldier of the cross, speaking of his con- 
flicts with Satan and his emissaries, says, "I was once so 
severely tempted and tried, that I determined to give up 



182 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

the struggle and go back to the world. After the first 
emotions of my grief were over, I fell asleep, and thought I 
heard a voice, saying, ' Be thou faithful unto death, and I 
will give thee a crown of life.' These words seemed to 
encourage and strengthen me. I then fancied I heard 
sweet melodious sounds, rising by degrees, until the region 
round was filled with transporting harmony. In the height 
of these agreeable agitations, as the rosy morning breaks 
from a cloud, a most lovely Being stood before me. There 
was something in his aspect so serene and beneficent, such 
a heavenly sweetness and affability that banished every 
thought of fear from my heart, and filled my breast with 
divine tranquillity, and my soul with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory. After a short pause, he began, with a 
voice that would have allayed the anguish of death, and 
charmed the wildest discord into calm attention; every 
accent breathed celestial love and harmony, while he de- 
scribed the joys of his 'Father's house.' But it is impos- 
sible to paint the beautiful ideas, or imitate the emphasis 
of his language. All the powers of eloquence sat on his 
tongue, and commanded all the motions of my soul, which 
at that blissful period seemed enlarged in its superior facul- 
ties. Every word was penetrating and significant, his 
manner perfectly graceful and transporting. In his de- 
scriptions I saw the glories, I felt the joys, of heaven. In 
an* instant the earth was lost to my view, the sun dimi- 
nished to a star; innumerable worlds were passed with a 
speed swifter than a morning ray; the pearly gates of hea- 
ven now appeared, and at my Gruide's command rolled back 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 183 

on their golden hinges. Oh, what glories were disclosed ! 
No language on earth can describe them. The very foun- 
dation-walls of the city were garnished with all manner of 
precious stones ! Even the streets were pure gold ! 

'^ Passing from one scene of wonder to another, ardent to 
pay my homage to my heavenly Father, I pressed forward 
to the sacred throne. Oh, what amazing wonders ! The 
Supreme Benignity at once beamed forth on me ! Oh, what 
joy unspeakable filled my soul! Lost in ecstasy, I fell 
prostrate before my Sovereign; when, with accents that 
breathed immortal joy and harmony, He bade me rise to 
perfect purity and bliss ! A starry crown was placed on 
my head, and a golden harp in my hand. I then mingled 
with the grand assembly, ten thousand times ten thousand, 
and thousands of thousands — ransomed from all nations, 
and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues; and with them 
joined my grateful tribute of praise to Him whose suJBfer- 
ings and death had given me acceptance, victory, and life. 
Here, with sweet melody, the delightful scene vanished. 
I awoke at the imaginary music, and found it had left me 
in a most heavenly state of mind." 

I would not live alway ; I ask not to stay 
Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way. 
The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here 
Are enough for life's joys, full enough for its cheer. 

I would not live alway, — no : welcome the tomb ! 
Since Jesus hath lain there, I dread not its gloom : 
There sweet be my rest till he bid me arise 
To hail him in triumph descending the skies. 



184 FAMILY BEREAVEiMENTS, 

Who, who would live alway, away from his God, — 
Away from yon heaven, that blissful abode. 
Where rivers of pleasure flow bright o'er the plains. 
And the noontide of glory eternally reigns? 

There saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
Their Saviour and brethren transported to greet; 
While anthems of rapture unceasingly roll 
And the smile of the Lord is the feast of the soul. 

Oh, what happiness, what glories, await the faithful sol- 
dier of Christ ! Oh, how various, how boundless, how trans- 
porting will the prospect he! (See 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10; Isaiah 
Ixiv. 4; and Rev. xxi. 7.) He does not fear death, for his 
blessed Lord and Master -has promised to go with him 
through the dark valley. (Psalm xxiii. 4; Isaiah xliii. 2; 
Hosea xiii. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 55.) He knows that he shall 
soon be with the dear Christian friends who have "gone on 
before," and sing songs of eternal praise unto Him that 
loved him and washed him from his sins in His own blood." 
(Rev. i. 5, 6; vii. 14; Matt. xxvi. 26-28.) 

They only are rightly affected by the sufferings and death 
of Christ who continue to be rightly affected by it. (Gral. 
vi. 9; Heb. x. 35-39; Rev. ii. 10.) The thought of his 
Saviour's crucifixion recurs to the faithful soldier of the 
cross in all the various periods of his life ; and more par- 
ticularly in every hour of trial, in every season of tempta- 
tion, of provocation, of hardship, and of disgrace. (Isaiah 
1. 6; 1 Cor. ii. 2; Heb. xii. 1-4.) Is he sorrowful and 
forsaken of all his friends ? he thinks of the sorrows of his 
Saviour. (Isaiah liii. 3-12; Matt. xxvi. 38, 39, 56.) Is 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 185 

he in pain, contradicted, reviled, and despised? he beholds 
his Saviour wearing a crown of thorns, dressed in an old 
purple robe, mocked, insulted, struck in the face, spit upon, 
and then crucified between two thieves, having Barabbas, a 
murderer, preferred before him ! (Matt. xxvi. 67, 68; xxvii. 
20, 35; Psalm xxii. 16-18.) Does he meet with shameful 
treatment in return for all his kindness and benevolence to 
others ? does nobody thank him, though he lays out his whole 
life in trying to serve them ? he is cheered and kept from 
sinking when he beholds his Saviour dying for his enemies. 

Yes, the Redeemer left his throne, 

His radiant throne on high, — 
Surprising mercy! love unknown! — 

To suffer, bleed, and die. 

He took the dying traitor's place, 

And suffered in his stead ; 
For sinful man, — oh, wondrous grace ! — 

For sinful man he bled. 

Oh, for this love let rocks and hills 

Their lasting silence break ; 
And all harmonious human tongues 

The Saviour's praises speak. 

Angels assist our mighty joys ; 

Strike all your harps of gold; 
But when you raise your highest notes, 

His love can n'er be told. 

The anxiety on the part of the blest for the safety of 
their relations and friends still on earth, is beautifully 
illustrated by the case of a dying Indian mother, who, 



186 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

when her physician sought to restore her to the hope 
and love of life, exclaimed : " No ! no ! my children 
recall me. I see them by the side of the Great Spirit. 
They stretch out their arms to me, and are astonished 
that I do not join them 1 

"Hark! heard ye not a sound 
Sweeter than wild-bird's note, or minstrel's lay ? 
I know that music well, for night and day 
I hear it echoing round. 

" It is the tuneful chime 
Of spirit voices! — 'tis my infant band 
Calling the mourner from this darkened land 
To Joy's unclouded clime. 

" My beautiful, my blest ! 
I see them there, by the Great Spirit's throne; 
With winning words, and fond, beseeching tone 
They woo me to my rest." 

The Rev. Dr. Chalmers writes beautifully on this sub- 
ject ; and though the style is somewhat peculiar, the 
Christian reader will not fail to understand it : "This 
affords, we think, something more than a dubious glimpse 
into the question that is often put by a distracted mother 
when her babe is taken away from her, — when all the 
converse it ever had* with the world amounted to the 
gaze upon it of a few months, or a few opening smiles, 
which marked the dawn of felt enjoyment; and ere it 
reached, perhaps, the lips of infancy, it, all unconscious 
of death, had to wrestle through a period of sickness with 
its power, and at length to be overcome by it. ! it 
little knew what an interest it had created in that home 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. ' 187 

where it was so passing a visitant, — nor, when carried 
to its early grave, what a tide of emotion it would raise 
among the few acquaintances it had left behind it! And 
should any parent wno hears us, feel softened by the 
touching remembrance of a light that twinkled a few 
short days or months under his roof, and at the end of 
its little period expired, we cannot think that we venture 
too far when we say, that he has only to persevere in 
the faith and in following the Gospel, and that very 
light will again shine upon him in heaven. The blossom 
which withered here upon its stalk, has been trans- 
planted there to a place of endurance ; and there it will 
then gladden that eye which now weeps out the agony 
of an affection that has been sorely wounded ; and in the 
name of Him who, if on earth, would have wept along 
with them, do we bid all believing parents to ' sorrow 
not even as others which have no hope,' " (1 Thes. iv. 
13 ; Prov. xiv. 32,) " but take comfort in the thought of 
that ' country' where there is no sorrow and no separa- 
tion." 

The belief that we are to recognize our friends in 
heaven, and associate with them for ever there, with the 
full remembrance of the past, throws the sublimity of 
eternity over our Christian efforts to establish each other 
in the faith and in the divine life. Every song which 
the redeemed in glory sing, commemorating in the praises 
of eternity the finished work of Jesus and the efficacy of 
his shed blood, shows that they have a remembrance of 
the past, that they are in full possession of the faculty 



188 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

of memory. Hence those ascriptions of praise to Jesus 
which they raise before the throne: "Thou wast slain, 
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every 
kindred and tongue, and people and nation." " Salvation 
to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
Lamb." Can the glorified forget what they read in 
their Bibles about the shedding of Christ's blood upon 
earth, as they stand with Jesus in white upon the hill of 
the heavenly Zion ? Do those who stood with the Apos- 
tle John upon the hill of Calvary, and who saw the 
blood of Immanuel crimsoning the cross, now forget 
what they beheld there ? Do all in heaven forget the 
means which the God of their salvation used through 
the agency of the Holy Spirit to apply to their consciences 
and hearts the blood of atonement ? 

The Rev. Dr. Berg, speaking of the recognition of our 
Christian friends in heaven, says, " Go where we will 
we find the sentiment, that friendship is perpetuated be- 
yond the grave. It is enshrined in the heart of our com- 
mon humanity. The pure unsophisticated belief of the 
vast majority of mankind is in union with the yearnings 
of natural affection, which follows its object through the 
portals of the grave into the eternal world. What but 
this causes the Christian parent, in the dying hour, to 
charge his children to prepare for a reunion before the 
throne of the Lamb ? He desires to meet them there, 
and to rejoice with them in the victory over sin and 
death. Tell me, ye Christian parents, who have seen 
the open tomb receive into its bosom the sacred trust 
16 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 189 

committed to its keeping, in hope of the first resurrec- 
tion, was not that consolation the strongest which 
assured you that the departed one, whom God has put 
from you into darkness, will run to meet you, when you 
cross the threshhold of immortality. We have lost them 
for a time, but they have not lost us. As they have 
gone higher, they have capacities and privileges which 
we, w^ho are still beneath them, have not ; and this may 
extend to a constant oversight and interest in us. The 
Old Testament saints are represented as " a cloud of 
witnesses" around us, like the crowd which bent down 
from all sides upon the race-ground in the Olympic games. 
According to this allnsion of the Apostle, they are around 
us, not merely as examples, but interested spectators. 
In like manner, w^e have reason, and also intimations of 
Scripture, to confirm us in the belief that our sainted 
friends are bending an interesting eye of love over us in 
all our earthly pilgrimage. Angels are the constant com- 
panions of the blest in heaven ; and they are also upon 
earth, " ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them 
who shall be heirs of salvation." 

Oh, ye departed spirits of my sires, 

And ye, the loved ones of my childhood's days, 
While now I look on yonder heavenly fires, 
Methinks I hear you tune your seraph lyres, 
Methinks I see you bend your pitying gaze 
On him who still must tread alone earth's gloomy maze! 

Thou angel spirit, who so oft didst sing 

My infant cares to sleep upon thy breast, 
Let me but hear the rustling of thy wing. 
Around thy child its guardian influence fling! 



lOO FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

Oh. come thou from the island of the blest. 
And bear my weary soul up to thy sainted rest ! 

Can we forget departed friends ? Ah, no ! 

Within our hearts their memory buried lies; 

The thought that where they are, we too shall go, 

Will cast a light o'er darkest scenes of wo ; 
For to their own blest dwellings in the skies, 
The souls whom Christ sets free exultingly shall rise. 

As God is to be regarded both as an affectionate father 
and righteous judge, so affliction is presented in Scrip- 
ture in two lights, in each of which it is compatible with 
the most perfect benevolence in the divine mind. It is 
there represented as being partly penal, and partly cor- 
rective ; while in both it is declared to be the effect of 
sin. In neither case is it the spontaneous infliction of 
One who delights in suffering for its own sake ; but the 
result of principles from which no wise father, or judge, 
will ever depart. A good father cannot apply the rod 
to his children for his own pleasure, but only for their 
profit. Can God then intend the infliction for evil ? Can 
He who sent his beloved Son to die for us take plea- 
sure in our misery ? Far be the thought from our minds. 
Are you a father, and do you feel the tender yearnings 
of paternal affection ? say, then, did you ever take the 
rod into your hand from a pleasure you felt in torment- 
ing your children ? Did the smart it produced ever yield 
you gratification ? Nay, did you not feel more pain than 
you inflicted ? Yet you felt it to be imperative not to 
spare the rod. The infliction was not the result of arbi- 
trary power, or of a deficiency of kindness, but the evi- 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 191 

deuce, tbe expression of love. It was dictated by affec^ 
tion and a concern for the welfare of your children. You 
discovered in them evils which required to be corrected, 
and to have neglected the proper exercise of discipline 
would have been as ruinous to their interests, as dishon- 
orable to your own character. Chastisement is not less the 
effect of God's parental love ; and the conclusion is so 
much the more decisive, inasmuch as the fathers of our 
flesh are sinful, whereas God is absolutely and infinitely 
perfect. He knows the exact measure of discipline ol 
which the Christian soldier stands in need, and the pro- 
per time of applying it. 

It is shocking to a true Christian soldier, to hear those 
who profess to love God, aggravate their trials, and 
debase their profession, by looking back to this and that 
and the other circumstance and dwelling upon that as 
what gave rise to the whole train of misfortunes and 
afflictions. And yet all the while these murmurers say 
they believe in God's purposes and decrees, and that he 
worketh all things after the counsel of his will ! How 
far is this beneath the Christian ! Have a care of your 
thoughts, of your words ; insubordination slips in at the 
door before one is aware. " It is well," is the only soul- 
quickening response to God's voice of affliction. There 
is wisdom seen in making contraries work together for 
good. That which is now your burden might have been 
your ruin. 

We may puzzle ourselves about instruments and second 
causes, but no rest can we have, till we are led to the 
First. "He performeth the thing appointed for me." 



192 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

That settles the soul, but nothing else will do it. Job 
was well convinced of this truth when he said, ''Afflic- 
tions Cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble 
spring out of the ground." Job v. 6 ; Amos iii. 6. "Be 
still, and know that I am God." Psalm xlvi. 10; Prov. 
XX. 24 ; Jer. x. 23, 24. There is nothing in which Chris- 
tians show a more unchristian spirit, and yet few sins 
beset them more easily, than an anxious concern and 
fretful care about some outward things which have in 
themselves no power to do good or evil, otherwise than 
as instruments in God's hand to attain his appointed 
end. Shall we quarrel with the sword because it suffered 
itself to be drawn. Isaiah x. 15. There is no such 
thing as " chance," as it regards God ; for not even a 
sparrow falls to the ground without his will. Luke xii. 6 ; 
Matt. X. 29. ''The lot is thrown into the lap, but the 
whole disposing thereof is of the Lord." Prov. xvi. 33. 
Let the chain of second causes be ever so long, the first 
link is always in God's hand. " Thus saith the Lord, 
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord 
thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth 
thee by the way that thou shouldest go." 

The following lines will help young soldiers of the 
cross to a more perfect understanding of these passages 
of Scripture : — 

THE CHANGED CROSS. 

It was a time of sadness, and my heart, 
Although it knew and loved the better part, 
Felt wearied with the conflict and the strife, 
And all the needed discipline of life. 
16* 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 193 

And while I thought on these, as given to me, 
My trial tests of faith and love to be, 
It seemed as if I never could be sure 
That faithful to the end I should endure. 

And thus, no longer trusting to his might 
Who says, " We walk by faith and not by sight," 
Doubting, and almost yielding to despair. 
The thought arose — My cross I cannot bear ! 

Far heavier its weight must surely be 
Than those of others which I daily see ; 
Oh, if I might another burden choose, 
Methinks I should not fear my crown to lose. 

A solemn silence reigned on all around. 
E'en nature's voices uttered not a sound, 
The evening shadows seemed of peace to tell, 
And sleep upon my weary spirit fell. 

A moment's pause — and then a heavenly light 
Beamed full upon my wondering, raptured sight, 
Angels on silvery wings seemed everywhere, 
And angels' music thrill' d the balmy air. 

Then One more fair than all the rest to see, 
One to whom all the others bow'd the knee. 
Came gently to me as I trembling lay, 
And — "Follow Me," he said, "I am the Way." 

Then speaking thus, He led me far above. 
And there beneath a canopy of love, 
Crosses of divers shape and size were seen. 
Larger and smaller than mine own had been. 

And one there was most beauteous to behold, 
A little one, a little one with jewels set in gold- 
Ah, this, methought, I can with comfort wear, 
For it will be an easy one to bear. 

And so the little cross I quickly took. 
But all at once my frame beneath it shook; 
The sparkling jewels, fair were they to see, 
But far too heavy was their weight to me. 
17 



194 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

This may not be, I crie-d — and looked again 
To see if any there could ease my pain ; 
But one by one I passed them slowly by, 
Till on a lovely one I cast my eye. 

Fair flowers around its sculptur'd form entwin'd, 
And grace and beauty seemed in it combin'd ; 
Wondering, I gazed, and still I wonder'd more 
To think so many should have pass'd it o'er. 

But oh, that form so beautiful to see, 
Soon made its hidden sorrows known to me : — 
Thorns lay beneath those flowers and colors fair ; 
Sorrowing I said, — This cross I may not bear. 

And so it was with each and all around, 

Not one to suit my need could there be found ; 

Weeping, I laid each heavy burden down, 

As my guide gently said, "No cross, no crown." 

At length to Him I raised my saddened heart ; 
He knew its sorrows, bid its doubts depart : 
"Be not afraid," He said, "but trust in me, 
My perfect love shall now be shown to thee." 

And then, with lighten' d eyes and willing feet, 
Again I turn'd my earthly cross to meet, 
With forward footsteps turning not aside. 
For fear some hidden evil might betide. 

And there, in the prepar'd, appointed way, 
Listening to hear and ready to obey, 
A cross I quickly found of plainest form. 
With only words of love inscribed thereon. 

With thankfulness I raised it from the rest 
And joyfully acknowledged it the best. 
The only one of all the many there, 
That I could feel was good for me to bear. 

And while I thus my chosen one confess'd, 
I saw a heavenly brightness on it rest. 
And as I bent my burden to sustain, 
I recognized my own old cross again ! 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 195 

But oh, how different did it seem to be, 
Now I had learned its preciousness to see. 
No longer could I unbelieving say — 
Perhaps another is a better way. 

Ah, no ! henceforth my one desire shall be, 
That He who knows me best shall choose for me; 
And so, whate'er his love sees good to send, 
I'll trust it's best — because he knows the end. 

Alas ! how unworthily we bear the name of Christians, 
when that which carried the forefathers of our faith 
through their fiery trials can not support us under the 
disappointment of any extravagant desire ! They had 
such a "respect to the recompense of the reward" as 
made them cheerfully expose their fame to ignominy, 
their goods to rapine, their bodies to exquisite tortures, 
and their lives to death. Heb. xi. 4-38 ; x. 34 ; 1 Cor. ii. 
9, 10 ; Isaiah Ixiv. 4. Yet the same hope cannot work 
us to any tolerable degree of patience, when we suffer 
but the smallest diminution of any of these 1 What 
shall we say ? Is heaven grown less valuable, or earth 
more than it was then ? Ah, no ; but we are more in- 
fatuated in our estimates. Like Jonah, we sit down 
sullenly upon the withering of a gourd, never consider- 
ing that God has provided a better shelter, " a building 
of God eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. v. 1 ; John xiv. 
2, 3. Indeed, there can be no affliction or temporal 
destitution so great which such an expectation can not 
make supportable. "Beloved," says the Apostle Peter, 
" think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial which is 
to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto 



196 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

you : but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's 
suflferings ; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye 
may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached 
for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of 
glory and of God resteth upon you. On their [):irt he is 
evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified." Again, 
" For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your 
faults, ye shall take it patiently ? but if, when ye do 
well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is accept- 
able with God. For even hereunto were ye called: 
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, 
that we should follow in his steps : who did no sin, 
neither was guile found in his mouth : who, when he 
was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he 
threatened not; but committed himself to Him that 
judgeth righteously : who his own self bare our sins in 
his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, 
should live unto righteousness : by whose stripes ye 
were healed." 1 Peter ii. 20-24 ; Isaiah liii. 3-12. " Yea, 
and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer 
persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax 
worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 

St. Paul, speaking of certain " visions and revelations 
of the Lord," says: "Most gladly therefore will I rather 
glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may 
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, 
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution, in distresses 
for Christ's sake : for when I am weak, then am I 
strong." 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10 ; 1 Cor. ix. 20, 2*7; Isaiah xl 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 197 

29-31. "For unto you it is given in the behalf of 
Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for 
his sake ; having the same conflict which ye saw in me, 
and now hear to be in me," Phil. i. 29, 30 ; Eph. vi. 12 ; 
2 Tim. iv. 7, 8 ; Rev. xxi. 7. 

With regard to the nature of that change which the 
bodies of the saints shall experience at the resurrection, 
the apostle Paul informs us that they shall be raised, in- 
corruptible, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. 1 Cor. xv. 
42-58. They shall be raised in glory. It is sown in dis- 
honor, it shall be raised in glory, and be fashioned like 
unto the glorious body of the Redeemer. Phil. iii. 21. 
The glorified body of Christ will be the model after 
which the bodies of the saints will be fashioned ; and 
we know that when Christ appeared to the apostles, on 
the mount of transfiguration, in his glorified body, "his 
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment became white 
and glistening." The bodies of the saints, freed from 
every deformity and decrepitude to which they were sub- 
ject in this present sinful state, will then appear arrayed 
in all the vigor and bloom of perpetual youth, a sweet 
and heavenly lustre will beam from their countenances ; 
and a glory inexpressible, and suited to their high and 
exalted condition, will surround them. 

Abel was the first human being whose body found a 
grave on earth, — the first whose spirit found a home in 
heaven. He was there alone ; yet not lonely, for though 
of men, he was not without society. Those "sons of 
God," who "shouted for joy" when earth's foundations 



198 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

were laid, and when man was created in the Divine 
image to be its occupant, exulted with a new delight on 
receiving amongst them the first fruits of the scheme of 
redeeming mercy. 

Alone he seems, and chants apart, 

In unexpected notes, 
A music, where the grateful heart 

In strains of feeling floats : 
A beauteous soul! whose seraph brow 

Is bright with glory's hue, — 
Lo ! angels pause to hear him now 

Their harping praise outdo. 

^ ■¥: * ^ ^ 

With such a burst of whelming love 

As earth's first martyr sang, — 
When, glory to the Lord above ! 

The voice of Abel rang. 

Angelic harps their key-note found 

In God as great and good. 
But Abel's heart did beat and bound 

As only sinner's could. 

" Worthy the Lamb who shall be slain ;* 

Redemption crowns my song ; 
Ye seraphim, your notes retain, 

But these to me belong ! " 

* It was Christ who appeared to Abraham. It was Christ who 
wrestled with Jacob. It was Christ who led Israel out of Egypt, 
and by the hands of Moses and Aaron, conducted the people to 
the promised land. It was Christ, who, before he came in the 
flesh, appeared in these early ages to the Church as her guardian 
and her God. St. Paul distinctly charges the host in the desert 
with having tempted Christ. "Neither," says he, "let us tempt 
Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of ser- 
pents." The benefits of Christ's death were enjoyed before he 
died ; the legacies of the Will were paid before the demise of the 
Testator ; for the saints, who lived in the days that preceded his 
advent, were received to glory, if we may so speak, upon his bond, 
his promise to pay. 



FAMILY BEREAVEMEJ^TS. 109 

Thus might the primal soul who came 

Forth from its bleeding clay, 
Kindle the heavens with His bright name 

"Who is our Truth and Way. 

And with that song of glory blent 

An humbling depth of tone, 
Which to the ransom'd harper lent 

A music all its own. 

Angels for bliss and being sang 

Their ecstucies on high ; 
But how the heavens with wonder rang 

When man awoke the sky ! 

But even as a human spirit, Abel was not long alone ; 
millions of the redeemed sons and daughters of earth are 
with him now ; and the company is every day in- 
creasing. There are the patriarchs and prophets. Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob are there ; and David, " the sweet 
singer of Israel" is among them. how sweet their 
songs I how bright their crowns 1 Dan. xii. 3 ; Mai. iii. 
It ; Matt. xiii. 43. what inexpressible rapture there 
must be in that music where the instruments are of the 
manufacture of "the Lord of glory" himself! and where 
every voice is a million times richer and sweeter than 
that of the sweetest and most skilful singer of earth I 
" Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
into the heart of man," the happiness and glory of that 
company. 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10 ; Isaiah Ixiv. 4. Sickness, sor- 
row, and death never enter there ; cares, fears, and anxieties 
are never felt there ; poverty, privation, and disappoint- 
ment are never known there. There no idol temples pol- 
lute the groves and mountain-tops. There no spirit of 



200 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

horror broods over ancient battle-fields. There no frightful 
Golgothas, or places of skulls, waken up remembrances of 
associations of guilt and death. There no dark spirits rule 
the air, or dwell amid desolations and tombs. There no 
ground which once drank the blood of martyrs, or of God's 
own Son. There no serpents hiss under the tree of life, 
or bruise the heel of those white-robed ones that stray by 
the fountains of living water. There no foul worms creep 
forth from the heart of ripening fruit, and no poisonous, 
softly stealing death revels on the cheek of beauty. Bright, 
pure, and blessed '^country." 

blissful scene ! — where sever'd hearts 

Renew the ties most cherish'd,— 
Where nought the mourn'd and mourner parts, — 

Where grief with life is perish'd. 
Oh, nought do I desire so well 
As here to die, and there to dwell ! 

No cloud ever darkens the sky of that blessed world ; 
no tempest disturbs the air. Here, the flowers fade with 
a touch ; but there, beneath a brighter Sun and in a nobler 
soil, the trees flourish in perpetual verdure, the leaves 
never wither, the flowers never fade, and every month pro- 
duces its perfect fruit. And, what is still better, there 
shall be no more sin. (Kev. xxi. 27; xxii. 15.) "And 
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former things 
are passed away." (Rev. xxi. 4.) " And there shall be no 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 201 

night there ; and they need no candle, neither light of the 
sun ) for the Lord God giveth them lights and they shall 
reign for ever and ever." 

" liappy country ! where 

There enteretli not a sin; 
And Death, who keeps its portals fair, 

May never once come in. 
No grief can change their day to night ; 
The darkness of that land is light : 
Sorrow and sighing God has sent 
Far thence to endless banishment. 
And never more may one dark tear 

Bedim their burning skies ; 
For every one they shed while here. 

In fearful agonies, 
Glitters a bright and dazzling gem 
In their immortal diadem." 

0, what a revelation! — The map of time disclosed, 
and every little rill of sorrow, every river of trouble will 
be seen to have been flowing heavenward, — every " rough 
blast" to have been sending the bark nearer the heavenly 
shore. (Isaiah xlviii. 17; John xiii. 7.) 0, what a 
meeting there of Christian parents and their Christian 
children, of Christian brothers and sisters, and death- 
divided Christian friends! what mutual gratulations ! what 
happiness ! and, 0, what joy unspeakable to see Jesus, 
and get their warmest welcome from the lips of Him who 
redeemed them with his own blood ! and in the agonies of 



202 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

His cross, suffered for them more than a mother's pangs, — 
" the travail of His soul !" 

Stupendous love ! 
Can man for this ungrateful prove, 
Jesus, the Saviour! what rebellious knee 
Would not a ready homage pay to Thee? 

The martyrs' glorious train, 
Thy noble votaries of old, 
In record^ of immortal fame enroll'd, 
Wore on their breasts inscribed Thy mighty name. 
By this with sacred fortitude inspired, 
With heavenly zeal and transport fired, 
They ran upon the pointed spear 

And leap'd into the flame ; 
Nor death could in a shape appear 
But what with open arms they met, 
Despising all that rage could do, or proudest tyrant's threats. 
Not hell itself their constancy could shake ; 

Its deepest stratagems they brake, 

Its wildest fury trampled down. 
And seized with conqu'ring hands the everlasting crown. 
"Jesus! " the signal for the fight they chose. 
And gave a glorious onset to their foes. 
In vain the powers of earth and hell ojDpose. 
"Jesus! our conqu'ring chief!" they cried; 
"Jesus!" aloud the surrounding skies replied. 

Exalted Name I 
From Thee the burning seraphs catch their flame. 
Jesus the God ! 'tis they alone can tell 
What treasures in that title dwell. 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 203 

You liappy spirits, that feel its emphasis, 
By this you stand confirmed in bliss. 
And know what boundless joys are stored 

In this important word. 
The glorious subject only suits 
The high-toned notes of your immortal lutes. 

Then join the choir, 
You bright musicians of the skies. 
And, with a well-proportion'd fire, 
Instruct us how to rise. 
Let your bless'd harps the imperfect lay prolong, 
Complete the bold design, and close th' advent'rous song. 

The world has nothing to entertain the faithful soldier 
of Christ. (1 John ii. 15, 16 ; Philipp. iii. 7, 8 j Psalm 
Ixxiii. 25, 26.) Death has no terrors for him. (1 Cor. xv. 
56, 57; Rev. xiv. 13; Job xix. 25-27; Psalm xxiii. 4; 
Isaiah ii. 10; Ivii. 1, 2.) The language of his heart is, 
" O Thou whom unseen I love, by what powerful influence 
dost Thou attract my soul? Thou dwellest in the heights 
of glory to which no human voice can soar, and yet Thou 
art more near and dear to me than any of the objects of 
sense." (John xiv. 21-23; 1 Cor. vi. 19; 2 Cor. vi. 16; 
xiii. 5; Rev. iii. 20 ; Cant. v. 1, 2.) " Oh, where could I 
be happy remote from Thee ? I love the brethren, — I love 
my Christian friends; but I love Thee more than all. 'I 
will arise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in 
the broad ways I will seek Him whom my soul loveth. I 
sought Him ; but I found Him not. The watchmen that 



204 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

go about the city found me : to whom I said, Saw ye Him 
whom my soul loveth ? It was but a little that I passed 
from them, but I found Him whom my soul loveth : I held 
Him, and would not let Him go, until I had brought Him 
into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that 
conceived me.' ^ I sat down under His shadow with great 
delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.' my Be- 
loved ! ^ sweet is Thy voice, and Thy countenance is 
comely.' ' My Beloved is mine ! and I am His !' ^ I 
sleep, but my heart waketh : it is the voice of my Beloved 
that knocketh.' Adieu to all human things! Welcome 
unutterable delight! All hail! ye joys unspeakable and 
full of glory! Compared to you, what are worldly plea- 
sures ? what is all that men of the world call happiness ? 
Vanish, ye terrestrial scenes ! fly away, ye vain objects of 
sense ! break my fetters, for I must be gone !" 

Hold on faith : it is but a little while, and your work 
will be at an end ; but a few more hours, days, or years, 
and your sighs and tears shall be converted into everlast- 
ing hallelujahs; but a few more steps, and the journey of 
life will be finished. In that happy " moment," the faith- 
ful soldier of the cross shall be freed from temptation, sin, 
and sorrow. He '^ shall obtain joy and gladness, and sor- 
row and sighing shall flee away." (Isaiah xxxv. 10.) 
His sun shall no more go down ; neither shall his moon 
withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be his everlasting light, 
and the days of his mourning shall be ended. (Isaiah Ix. 
20.) In that happy day, the redeemed might well ex- 
claim, — 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 205 

"Glory to God, all our dangers are o'er; 
We stand secure on the glorified shore; 
Glory to God, Ave will shout evermore. 
We're home at last, home at last." 

The faithful soldier of the cross does not fear the grave ; 
because his Saviour has promised He will never leave nor 
forsake him. (Heb. xiii. 5; Psalm xxiii. 4.) lie takes 
hold of His strength. (Isaiah xxvii. 5; xl. 29-31.) The 
breakers will perhaps run mountains high as he goes over 
the bar; but he does not fear, because Jesus is at the helm. 
The next wave will float him far beyond the trials and con- 
flicts of earth. In that blessed " moment" all his labors 
and sufferings shall close in the everlasting enjoyment of 
the wealth, the glories, and the joys of his ''Father's 
house. ^' He shall then "see the King in His beauty; he 
shall behold the land that is very far off"." (Isaiah xxxiii. 
17.) In that day the Lord will rejoice over him with joy; 
He will rest in his love ; He will joy over him with sing- 
ing, and wipe away all tears from his eyes. (Zeph. iii. 17; 
Rev. xxi. 4.) In that blessed land, " the inhabitant shall 
not say, I am sick" (Isaiah xxxiii. 24 ; Rev. xxi. 4) ; there 
the eye of the patriarch shall never grow dim again ; there 
Jacob shall no longer halt, and Lazarus retain no traces of 
his maladies. No mortal ever conceived of a form so 
beautiful and glorious as shall then belong to the saint 
whose body was the most unlovely and misshapen here ; 
for it will "be fashioned like unto His glorious body," — 
" not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." how 



206 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

dazzling ! how divinely fair ! what inexpressible pleasure 
in every smile ! 

There the blood-washed millions shall join with che- 
rubim and seraphim, angels and archangels, thrones and 
dominions, principalities and powers, to sweep the loud- 
strung lyre, and roll the melodious anthem along the tide 
of everlasting ages. Whatever can give delight, whatever 
can satisfy the soul in all the boundless capacities of joy, 
will be there. Never did the eyelids of the morning open 
on such perfection; never did the sun, since first it jour- 
neyed through the skies, behold such beauty; nor can 
human fancy, in its most inspired flights, conceive such 
glories. Christianity describes them by pronouncing them 
indescribable. She declares that "Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
things which Grod hath prepared for them that love him." 

The biographer of Dr. Grordon, speaking of his near ap- 
proach to death, says, " On awaking after a long sleep, he 
took the writer's hand, and, grasping it tenderly, said, ' I 
feel I am hastening away very rapidly to-day. that 
blessed Saviour ! How I love Him ! Preach Him fre- 
quently, Newman ! Speak of that blessed Book. I must 
have more of it — read more chapters in John.' " To an- 
other friend, who expressed surprise at witnessing such 
composure, he replied, " Confidence in Christ conveys vigor 
to my heart. Without Him I should be weak indeed. 
Attribute nothing of it to me. The man who hopes to be 
saved by his own works, will have no peace of mind. He 
must think of himself as nothing." (1 Cor. viii. 2, 3; 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 207 

Luke xvii. 10.) To the Agent and Secretary of tlie Tem- 
perance Society, who told him how deeply he would be 
regretted in the town, he replied, " I wish to live in the 
affectionate remembrance of my friends ; but I wish them 
to have the same enjoyment, and they can only have it by 
seeking Christ." In conversation with his family, he said, 
" How can I help loving Him? I seem to see Him with 
His heavenly countenance smiling on me now. He has 
pardoned me, washed me, clothed me. I feel I could not 
rebel against Him, What are men about when, with such 
a theme, they can preach such sermons as many of them 
deliver ! There are not only joys to come, but joys in this 
world. Having Him so near as a companion," (John xiv. 
21-23; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; 2 Cor. xiii. 5; Colos. i. 27; 1 
John iv. 4; Kev. iii. 20; Cant. v. 1, 2,) "it takes from 
us evil thoughts, ambition, and avarice. He says, ' If ye 
love Me, keep my commandments.' And what are His 
commandments ? Not grievous. There was He seeking me 
out first, and not I seeking Him ! And whence came this? 
By grace we are saved through faith ; and not of ourselves : 
it is the gift of God. (Eph. ii. 8.) Oh, think of Christ. 
How can any one think of himself?" 

Another friend remarked, " I remember once thinking 
it folly to talk of being born again. I knew not what it 
meant." To this remark Dr. Gordon replied, " But we 
know now. It is the strong conviction of the truth of 
Christianity which gives me peace and blessedness. It 
has changed my whole nature." The same friend con- 
tinued, "John Newton, when entangled by skepticism, 



208 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

resolved to test tlic truth of Christianity by seeking the 
Divine influence promised in answer to prayer, arguing 
that, if religion were true, the result of such seeking 
would be the evidence of it." " That is the argument," 
said Dr. Gordon, " which weighs with me. No mere rea- 
son of man could have written the Bible. Reason may 
find fault with it, but could not have made it. O, it is 
a Book! Bead every word of it, and believe it just as it 
is." By his own request, the Lord's Supper was adminis- 
tered in his room. The beautiful hymn of Dr. Watts was 
sung : 

" There is a land of pure delight, 
Where saints immortal reign ; 
Infinite day excludes the night, 
And pleasures banish pain." 

" He then took a most tender farewell of his afflicted 
wife. To his daughter, who bent over him in great dis- 
tress, he said, with inexpressible tenderness, ' Bless thee, 
my child !' ' You love me still, father ?' ' Yes, dearly !' 
He then opened his hand, which had now almost lost its 
power of motion, for the purpose of receiving hers, which 
he tenderly pressed, together with that of the writer. This 
was the last act. After a pause, he said suddenly, but not 
without considerable effort, ' Bring them all in, — every- 
body !' Increased difficulty of breathing was the only dis- 
tressing symptom. He appeared no longer conscious of 
what took place around him. He gazed upward, as in 
rapt vision. No film overspread his eyes. They beamed 
with an unwonted lustre, and the whole countenance. 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 209 

losiag the aspect of disease and pain, with which wc had 
been so long famiUar, glowed with an expression of inde- 
scribable rapture. As we watched in silent wonder and 
praise, his features, which had become motionless, suddenly 
yielded for a few seconds to a smile of ecstasy, which no 
pencil could ever depict, and which none who witnessed it 
can ever forget. And when it passed away, still the whole 
countenance continued to beam and brighten, as if reflect- 
ing the glory upon which he was gazing.'^ (See Exodus 
xxxiv. 29, 30; Psalm xxxvi. 9; Isaiah 1. 10, and Acts vi. 
15.) 

" We saw," continues his biographer, *' as much as mor- 
tal eye could see of the entrance of a soul into glory. 
Nothing more could have been given us, but the actual 
vision of the separate spirit and its angelic convoy. This 
glorious spectacle lasted for about a quarter of an hour, — 
increasing in interest to the last, — during which the soul 
seemed to be pouring itself forth from the frail tenement 
which had imprisoned it, into the embrace of its blessed 
Lord. The breathing now became shorter and shorter; 
then, after a long pause, one last, gentle heaving of the 
chest, and without a struggle the soul had fled. Was this 
dying? All present felt that their departed friend had 
never been more emphatically alive. ****** 
There was grief, but no gloom, in that chamber. The 
glory of heaven seemed to illuminate it." 

His biographer further observes, " I never saw a moro 
decided instance of a person casting away his own right- 
eousness, and trampling it under foot. Christ was every 



210 FAMILY BEREAVEiMENTS. 

tiling to liim ; while the breathings of his soul after holi- 
ness and sanctification of the Holy Spirit were intense and 
fervent. To his entire dependence upon his Saviour's 
merits may be attributed, under God, his uninterrupted 
enjoyment of spiritual consolation all through his illness. 
His experience stood out to view as a living elucidation of 
that beautiful passage of Scripture — ' Thou shalt keep 
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because 
he trusteth in Thee.' " 

Equally happy was the death-bed scene of the Rev. Dr. 
Payson, referred to in Chapter 4, p. 91. The following 
additional particulars are gleaned from his biography: — 
To the question, "Do you feel yourself reconciled?" he 
replied, "0, that is too cold. I rejoice, I triumph; and 
this happiness will endure as long as God Himself: for it 
consists in admiring and adoring Him. I can find no words 
to express my happiness. I seem to be swimming in a 
river of pleasure which is carrying me on to the great 
fountain-head !" * * * '<■ And God is in this room, 
I see Him ; and, oh, how unspeakably lovely and glorious 
does He appear — worthy of ten thousand thousand hearts, 
if we had them. He is here, and hears me pleading with 
the creatures that He has made. And, oh, how terrible 
does it appear to me to sin against Him; to set up our own 
wills in opposition to His !" After a short pause, he con- 
tinued, " It makes my blood run cold to think how inex- 
pressibly miserable I should now be without religion." 
* * * a J g^-^(.| j^Q satisfaction in looking at any thing 
I have done; I want to leave all this behind — it is nothing 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 211 

— and to flj to Christ to be clothed iu His righteousness." 
* * * u J iiave done nothing myself; I have not 
fought, but Christ has fought for me ; I have not run, but 
Christ has carried me : Christ has done all." :^ ^ ^ 
'* the loving-kindness of God — His loving-kindness ; 
This afternoon, while I was meditating on it, He seemed 
to pass by, and proclaim Himself, 'The Lord, the Lord 
God, merciful and gracious.' "O how gracious!" ^ ^ '^ 
"It seemed, this afternoon, as if Christ said to me, 'You 
have often wondered and been impatient at the way by 
which I have led you; but what do you think of it now ?' 
and I was cut to the heart, when I looked and saw the 
wisdom and goodness by which I had been guided, that I 
could ever for a moment distrust His love." (See Isaiah 
xlviii. 17; John xiii. 7; Deut. viii. 2-5; Psalm cvi. 7-15, 
and Jer. xxxi. 3.) To his sister he said, '-0, my sister, 
my sister, could you but know what awaits the Christian ; 
could you only know so much as I know, you could not re- 
frain from rejoicing and even leaping for jo3^ Labors, 
trials, troubles, would be nothing; you would rejoice in 
afflictions and glory in tribulations, and, like Paul and 
Silas, sing God's praises in the darkest night and in the 
deepest dungeon. You have known a little of my trials 
and conflicts, and know that they have been neither few 
nor small; and I hope this glorious termination of them 
will serve to strengthen your faith." 

His bodily sufferings were exceedingly severe. His 
right arm and left side lost all power of motion, and the 
flesh became insensible to external applications, while in- 



212 TAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

ternally he experienced a sensation of burning, which he 
compared to a stream of liquid fire pouring through his 
bones. Speaking of his trials, he said, "God has been 
depriving me of one blessing after another; but, as every 
one was removed, He has come in and filled up the place; 
and now, when I am a cripple and not able to move, I am 
liappier than I ever was in my life before or ever expected 
to be; and if I had believed this twenty years ago, I 
might have been spared much anxiety." On Sunday, 
October 21, 1827, his last agony commenced. Even now 
he greeted those who approached him with a smile. A 
little while before he died, he exclaimed, ^' Peace! peace! 
victory! victory!" 

What are the laurels and trophies of conquerors, com- 
pared to a triumph like that ? Equally cheering to all who 
truly love God is the dying testimony of the Rev. William 
Romaine. About an hour before his departure, a friend 
said, " I hope, my dear brother, you now find the salvation 
of Jesus Christ precious to your soul?" He replied, "He 
is a precious Saviour to me now. O, how animating is 
the view I have of death and the hope laid up for me in 
heaven!" The last words of the Rev. Dr. Doddridge were, 
" My soul is vigorous and healthy, notwithstanding the 
decay of this frail and tottering body." On another occa- 
sion he said, " The most distressing nights to this frail 
body have been as the beginning of heaven to my soul. 
God hath, as it were, let heaven down upon mc in those 
nights of weakness and waking. Blessed be His name." 
The Rev. William Hervey exclaimed, in his dying hour. 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS 213 

'^ 0, welcome death ! welcome death ! thou mayst well be 
reckoned among the treasures of tlie Christian ! To live 
is Christ, but to die is gain." A little before his depart- 
ure, a friend said to the Rev. Charles Simeon, *' How gra- 
cious it is that you should feel so little suffering!" ^'Whe- 
ther I have a little more or a little less," said the dying 
manf " it matters not. All is right and well, and just as it 
should be. I am in a dear Father's hands : all is serene. 
When -I look at Him," (here he spoke with peculiar so- 
lemnity,) " I see nothing but faithfulness, and immortality, 
and truth; and -I have not a doubt or a fear, but the sweet- 
est peace. But if I look another way, — to the poor creature, 
to self, — oh, there is nothing — nothing — nothing — (paus- 
ingj but what is abhorred and mourned over. Yes; I say 
that — and it is true." 

A few hours before his death, the deeply pious and 
learned Dr. Bedell said, '' Hear me, I acknowledge my- 
self to have been a most unprofitable servant, — unprofitable, 
but not a hypocrite. I find myself to have been full of 
sin, ignorance, weakness, unfaithfulness, and guilt; but 
Jesus is my hope : washed in His blood, justified by His 
righteousness, sanctified by His grace, I have peace with 
God. Jesus is very precious to my soul, — my all in all; 
and I expect to be saved by free grace through His atoning 
blood." Another dying soldier of the cross said, " In body, 
full of pain; but in mind, full of happiness and heaven. 
the boundless love of God ! Volumes could not ex- 
press what I feel of His love. that precious blood ! 
Let no one slight it. tell everybody to love Jesus ! — 



214 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

to love the Bible. tell everybody -o love God and 
keep His commandments^ and He will be with them in 
death." 

The last words uttered by Luther were, " my 
heavenly Father, thou hast revealed to me thy Son, our 
Lord Jesus Christ. I have preached Him, I have con- 
fessed Him, I love Him, and I worship Him as my dearest 
^Friend' and Redeemer. Into Thy hands I commit my 
spirit; for Thou hast redeemed my soul, Lord Grod of 
truth." Another faithful soldier of the cross exclaimed, 
" what prospects are before me in the blessed world to 
which I am going ! Will you not share my joy, and help 
me to praise Him that I shall soon leave this body of sin 
and death behind, and enter on the perfection of my spi- 
ritual nature ? Sweet affliction ! now it worketh glory, 
glory!" The last words uttered by Mr. Toplady were, "I 
cannot find words to express the comforts I feel in my 
soul: they are past expression. The consolations of God 
are so abundant that He leaves me nothing to pray for. 
My prayers are all converted into praise. I enjoy a heaven 
already in my soul." Another dying saint exclaimed, 
" Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man 
standing on the right hand of God." (Acts xvii. 56.) 

No less cheering to the Christian heart is the dying tes- 
timony of the Rev. Mr. Hewiston. After drinking a tum- 
bler of cold water, he said, "What a beautiful emblem of 
the pure river of life!" "When you reach that river," 
said a friend, "there will be an end of all your weariness 
and languor." " And, what is far better," rejoined Mr 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 215 

riewiston, "an end of all possibility of sinning." On an- 
other occasion he said, " The righteousness of Christ is 
my stay. That sustained lue in Madeira, in the midst of 
persecution and difl&culties; it has sustained me all through 
my ministry; and it sustains me now." " It is a great pri- 
vilege " remarked his friend, "to be enabled to bear the 
testimony you now do." " And an humbling thing," re- 
plied Mr. Hewiston : " the more grace, the more self-empty- 
ing." One night, about two o'clock, he said, " Oh, was not 
that a most wonderful thing, the agony which Jesus suf- 
fered in his body for our sins ! And that fearful agony 
was only an index of what he suffered in his soul." Mr. 
Hewiston's last words were, " Oh, my people !" 

President Edwards observes, in his life of the Rev. Mr. 
Brainerd, that his history shows the right way to success 
in the work of the ministry. " He sought it as a resolute 
soldier seeks a victory in a siege or battle, or as a man that 
runs a race for a great prize." God help every soldier of 
the cross on earth to pursue the same course. " For we 
wrestle not against flesh and blood ; but against principali- 
ties, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of 
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." 

" Brethren," said another dying soldier of the cross, " I 
see, methinks, celestial Light ahead ! — the shadows are 
flying! O, hallelujah! hallelujah! 0, glory to the bleed- 
ing Lamb ! In a few moments I shall see Him as He is." 
After a brief pause, he added, '' I am rather falling into a 
gentle sleep than dying. I feel but little pain, and all 
within is peaceful and calm." And then, closing his eyes. 



21 G FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

with a heavenly smile overspreading his countenance, he 
repeated these words, and with them resigned his breath : 

" The angels call, they call me from above, 
And bid me hasten to the realms of love. 
My soul with transport hears the happy doom ; 
I come, ye gentle messengers, I come : 
Earth flies, vv^ith all the charms it has in store, 
Its snares and gay temptations are no more ; 
While heaven appears, and the propitious skies 
Unveil their inmost glories to my eyes. 
To mortals and their hopes I bid adieu, 
And ask no more the rising sun to view; 
For, oh, the Light himself, with rays divine, 
Breaks in, and God's eternal day is mine." 

Lady Huntingdon, when asked by Lady Anne Erskine 
how she felt, replied, "I am well ; all is well, well forever. 
I see, wherever I turn my eyes, whether I live or die, no- 
thing but victory." On another occasion she said, "I am 
cradled in the arms of love and mercy. My work is done; 
I have nothing to do but to go to my Father." (See 
Isaiah Ixvi. 13; Jer. xxxi. 3, and John xvii. 24.) When 
near her last struggle, she whispered, joyfully, "I shall go 
to my Father to-night;" and she did. Hannah More bore 
this testimony to the love of Christ to her soul: — "What 
can I do? What can I not do, with Christ helping me? 
I know that my Redeemer liveth. Happy, happy are 
those that are expecting to be together in a better world. 
The thought of that world lifts the mind above itself" 
When one talked to her of her good deeds, she said, ^' Talk 
not so vainly ; I utterly cast them from me, and fall low at 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 217 

the foot of the cross/' As the moment of her departure 
drew near, she smiled, and endeavored to raise herself a 
little from her pillow; she reached out her arms as if in 
the act of praise to Grod, and, while making this effort, she 
once called, "Patty!" (the name of her last and dearest 
sister,) very plainly, and exclaimed, " Joy I" In this state 
of quietness and peace she remained for an hour, and then 
fell asleep in the arms of her Redeemer, to die no more. 

'^ The cross of Christ," said the dying Mrs. Sherman, 
^' is all my support and hope. that I had a tongue to 
urge all to seek refuge there ! Is it not a comfort to feel 
the sting of death removed?" On another occasion, when 
she heard the voice of her youngest child, she called her, 
and had her placed for a moment on her knees. Looking 
at her with inexpressible tenderness, she said, " Mamma is 
going to heaven. Will my precious child meet me there ?" 
The dear little creature replied, with energy, '' Yes, mam- 
ma." The answer awoke strong emotion, and prevented 
her saying more. Recovering herself, she said, " Read to. 
me about Abraham and his seed, that I may feel encou- 
raged about my precious children." "Yes, there is my 
hope. ' I will be a God to thee and to thy children after 
thee.' Surely He has been a God to me. Who but He 
could have borne with me and helped me till now ?" As 
she said this, her countenance was lighted with a sweet 
smile. Taking her husband's hand, she said, " Forgive a 
wife if with her dying breath she say, Preach Christ and 
His salvation more fully, more conspicuously, more feel- 
ingly, than ever. It has been your aim, I know, to exalt 



218 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

Him all your life ; but let your remaining efforts in tlie pul- 
pit extol Him and make Him very high/' * * * ^ 
"Do not weep; cheer up; Christ your Master will give 
you strength and grace; we shall meet, after a few short 
years, to part no more/' 

The last words of Mrs. Sarah Moore were, ^^ Blessed 
Jesus." The day but one before her departure, she awoke 
suddenly out of a tranquil sleep, crying out, in rapture, 
^' Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto the 
Lamb, — Hallelujah V In the evening of the same day, 
though scarcely able to utter a word, she said to those 
around her, ^' Talk of the cross — the blood-stained cross 
— of the King of love." 

The Rev. Dr. Berg, speaking of the scenes of his early 
childhood, says, " I remember well when a child, sepa- 
rated by the wide ocean, from my parents, among my 
schoolmates was a little boy, whose father was engaged 
with mine in preaching the Gospel to the poor Negroes 
in the West Indies. My heart yearned over him; he 
was so modest and guileless ; so amiable and full of art- 
less affection, and withal so small and delicate, and we 
were both so far from home that there was to me an un- 
usual attraction about him ; and I never shall forget how 
he pined away like a blighted flower, and was tak.en to 
' the sick-room ?' The sickness was unto death — and as 
he lay, propped with pillows, on his bed, his pale and 
wasted face — his panting breath — his eyes sparkled with 
that unearthly light, that gleams through the windows 
of the soul, like rays from a brighter world, all told 



FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 219 

plainly that he was ' going home.' There was a sudden 

flush upon his features. He raised his little hand and 

whispered, ' Oh, listen ! What sweet music ! ' Then 

starting up, his face shining with rapture, he followed 

with his hands the objects which were before his vision, 

repeating, ' See ! see those beautiful angels ! Let me 

go — dress me. Oh, let me go with them!' And he did 

go with them. Is it not of such, that Jesus says, * Their 

angels do always behold the face of my Father who is 

in heaven?' Among the sweetest thoughts of death, 

which ever filled my heart, from childhood until now, 

are those which come whispering from the grave of my 

little friend." 

I have seen 
A curious child, that dwelt upon a tract 
Of inland ground, applying to his ear 
The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell, 
To which, in silence hushed, his very soul 
Listened intently ; and his countenance soon 
Brightened with joy ; for, murmuring from within 
Were heard, sonorous cadences ! whereby 
To his belief the Monitor expressed 
Mysterious union with its native sea — 
E'en such a shell the universe itself 
Is to the ear of faith. 

O blessed eternity! — with what cheerful splendor dost 
thou dawn on every departed faithful soldier of Christ ! 
With thee come 'liberty, and peace, and love, and endless 
felicity ! — pain and sorrow, tumult and death and darkness, 
vanish before thee. " And I heard a voice from heaven 
saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in 



220 FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS. 

the Lord from henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labors; and their works do follow 
them/' 

"0 Death, where is thy boasted conquest now? 
Where are the frowns and terrors of thy brow ? 
Thou hast an angel's heavenly form and air : 
Pleasures and graces in thy train appear." 



"Harp! lift up thy voice on high — shout, angels, shout! 
And loudest, ye redeemed ! glory to God, 
And to the Lamb, who bought us with His blood, 
From every kindred, nation, people, tongue. 
And washed, and sanctified, and saved our souls, 
And gave us robes of linen pure, and crowns 
Of life, and made us kings and priests to God. 
Thousands of thousands — thousands infinite — 
With voice of boundless love, answered, Amen. 
And God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — 
The One Eternal! smiled superior bliss. 
And every eye and every face in heaven. 
Reflecting and reflected, beamed with love." 

" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only doeth 
wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for- 
ever; and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. 
Amen, and Amen." 



THE END. 



